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FONTAINE’S FABLES AND 
AESOP’S FABLES 










































































































































































































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FONTAINE S FABLES 

WITH WHICH ARE INCLUDED 

iESOP’S FABLES 


Adapted by 

EDWIN GILE RICH 

Author of “Why-So Stories,” etc. 



BOSTON 

SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 



CuPTRIGHT, 1922 

Bt SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY 

(Incorporated) 


O ft 

« • « 
f I 


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


THE MURRAY PRINTING COMPANY 
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 


JAN 18 *23 


CONTENTS 


Fontaine's Fables: 

The Two Mules PA °3 

' The Hare and the Partridge 4 

The Gardener and His Landlord 5 

The Man and His Image 8 

The Animals Sick of the Plague 10 

The Unhappily Married Man 13 

The Rat Retired from the World 15 

The Maiden 16 

The Wishes 18 

The Dairy- Woman and the Pail of Milk 20 

The Priest and the Corpse 22 

The Man Who Ran After Fortune 24 

An Animal in the Moon 27 

The Fortune-Tellers 28 

The Cobbler and the Financier 30 

The Power of Fable 32 

The Dog Who Carried His Master’s Dinner 34 

Thyrsis and Amaranth 35 

The Rat and the Elephant 37 

The Horoscope 38 

Jupiter and the Thunderbolts 40 

Education 42 

Democritus and the People of Abdera 43 

The Acorn and the Pumpkin 45 

The Schoolboy, The Pedant and the Owner of a Garden 46 

[v] 


CONTENTS 


The Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter . . . . 

The Oyster and the Pleaders 

The Cat and the Fox 

The Monkey and the Cat 

The Dog With His Ears Cropped 

The Lioness and the She-Bear 

The Rabbits 

The Gods Wishing to Instruct a Son of Jupiter 
The Lion, the Monkey, and the Two Asses . . 

The Wolf and the Fox in the Well 

V The Mice and the Screech-Owl 

The Companions of Ulysses 

The Wolf and the Fox 

The Forest and the Wood Cutter 

y/ The Fox and the Young Turkeys 

The Scythian Philosopher 

The Elephant and Jupiter’s Ape 

The League of Rats 

$ sop’s Fab 7 es: 

The Cock and the Pearl .. . „ , 

The Lion and the Mouse 

The Wolf and the Lamb 

The Bat and the Weasels 

The Ass and the Grasshopper ....... 

The Wolf and the Crane 

The Ants and the Grasshopper .... 

The Hare and the Tortoise 

The Dog and the Shadow 

The Farmer and the Snake 


PAGE 

47 

48 

49 

51 

52 

53 

54 
56 
58 
61 

63 

64 
67 
69 
79 

71 

72 
74 

79 

80 
81 
82 

83 

84 



86 

87 

88 


[vi] 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

The Farmer and the Stork 89 

The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion 90 

The Tortoise and the Eagle 91 

The Fox and the Goat 92 

The Sick Lion 93 

The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing 94 

The Frogs Asking for a King 95 

The Laborer and the Snake . . . . 96 

The Ass and the Mule 97 

The Oxen and the Butchers 98 

The Lion, the Mouse and the Fox 99 

The Fox Who Had Lost His Tail 100 

The Vain Jackdaw 101 

The Wolves and the Sheep 102 

The Ox and the Frog 103 

^The Fighting Cocks and the Eagle 104 

The Fox and the Monkey 105 

The Hawk, the Kite and the Pigeons 106 

The Mouse, the Frog and the Hawk 107 

The Wolf and the Sheep 108 

The Fox and the Crow 109 

The Wild Ass and the Lion . 110 

The Stag in the Ox-Stall Ill 

The Lion and the Boar 112 

The One-Eyed Doe 113 

The Ass, the Cock, and the Lion 114 

The Old Lion 115 

The Ass and His Shadow 116 

The Lion in a Farm- Yard 117 

[vii] 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Birdcatcher, the Partridge and the Cock 118 

The Wolf and the Lion 119 

The Ant and the Dove 120 

The Monkey and the Fishermen 121 

The Hares and the Frogs 122 

The Swan and the Goose 123 

The Miller, His Son, and Their Ass 124 

The Two Frogs 126 

The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox 127 

The Lion and the Hare 128 

The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass 129 

The Hare and the Hound 130 

The Peacock and the Crane 131 

The Ass and the Frogs 132 

The Crow and Raven 133 


FONTAINE’S FABLES AND 
iESOP’S FABLES 













THE TWO MULES 


T WO heavily-laden mules were making a journey 
together. One was carrying oats and the other a 
package of silver money collected from the people as 
a tax upon salt. This tax produced much money for the gov- 
ernment, but it bore very hard upon the people, who revolted 
many times against it. 

The mule that carried the silver was proud of his burden, 
and would not have been relieved of it if he could. As he 
stepped out he took care that the bells upon his harness should 
jingle well as became a mule of so much importance. 

Suddenly a band of robbers burst into the road, pounced 
upon the treasure mule, seized it by the bridle, and stopped it 
short. Struggling to defend itself the unhappy creature 
groaned and sighed: “Is this then the fate that has been in 
store for me, that I must fall and perish whilst my fellow 
traveller escapes free from danger?” 

“My friend,” exclaimed the mule that carried only the 
oats, and whom the robbers had not troubled, “it is not always 
good to have exalted work to do. Had you been like me, a 
mere slave to a miller, you would not have been in such a bad 
way now!” 


[ 3 ] 


THE HARE AND THE PARTRIDGE 



EVER mock at other people’s misfortune; for you 


cannot tell how soon you yourself may be unhappy. 


iEsop the sage has given us one or two examples of 


this truth, and I am going to tell you of another one now. 

A hare and a partridge were living very peacefully in a 
field, when a pack of hounds obliged the hare to seek refuge. 
He rushed into his hole and succeeded in putting the hounds 
at fault. But the scent from his over-heated body betrayed 
him. Old Trusty, philosophising, concluded that this scent 
came from his hare, and with admirable zeal routed him out. 
Then old Trusty, who never is at fault, proclaimed that the 
hare was gone away. The poor unfortunate creature at last 
died in his hole. 

The partridge, his companion, thought fit to soothe his 
last moments with some scoffing remarks upon his fate. 
“You boasted of being so swift,” she said, “What has come 
to your feet, then?” 

But even as she was chuckling her own turn came. Secure 
in the belief that her wings would save her, whatever happened, 
she did not reckon on the cruel talons of the hawk. 


[ 4 ] 


THE GARDENER AND HIS LANDLORD 


T HERE was once a man who was very fond of gardening, 
for he was half a countryman and half town-bred. He 
owned in a certain village a fair-sized plot with a field 
attached, and all enclosed by a hedge. Here sorrel and lettuce 
grew freely, as well as such flowers as jasmine and wild thyme, 
and from these his good wife Margot culled many a flower for 
her high days and holidays. 

This state of things was soon disturbed by the visits of a 
hare, and to such an extent that the man had to go to his land- 
lord and lodge a complaint. “This wretched animal,” he said, 
“comes here and stuffs himself night and morning, and simply 
laughs at traps and snares. As for stones and sticks they make 
no difference whatever to him. He must be enchanted. ” 
“Enchanted!” cried the landlord. “I defy enchantment! 
Were he the devil himself old Tray would soon rout him out 
in spite of his tricks. I’ll rid you of him, my man, never fear!” 
“And when?” asked the man. 

“Oh, tomorrow, without delay!” 

The affair being arranged in this way, on the morrow came 
the landlord with all his followers. “First of all,” he said, 
“ how about breakfast? Your chickens are tender I’ll be bound. 
Come here, my dear,” he added, addressing the man’s 
daughter, and then, to her father, “When are you going to 
let her marry? Hasn’t a son-in-law come on the scene yet? 
My dear man, this positively must be done, you know, you’ll 

[ 5 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 


have to put your hand in your pocket to some purpose. ” So 
saying he sat down beside the damsel, took her hand, held 
her by the arm, toyed with her lace, which the girl resented 
with great self-respect, while the father grew a little uneasy 
in his mind. 

Nevertheless, the cooking went on. There was quite a 
run on the kitchen. 

“How well cured are your hams? They look good.” 

“Sir,” replied the flattered host, “they are yours.” 

“Oh, come now! Well I’ll take them, and that right 
gladly.” 

The landlord and his family, his dogs, his horses, and his 
men-servants, all took breakfast with hearty appetites. He 
assumed the host’s place and privileges, drank his wine and 
caressed his daughter. After this a crowd of nunters took 
seats at the breakfast table. 

Now everybody was lively and busy with preparations for 
the hunt. They blew the horns to such purpose that the good 
man was dumbfounded by the din. Worse than that they made 
terrible havoc in the poor garden. Good-by to all the neat 
rows and beds! Good-by to the chickory and the leeks! 
Good-by to all the herbs! 

The hare lay hidden under the leaves of a great cabbage, 
but being discovered was quickly started, whereupon he 
rushed to a hole — worse than a hole, a great and horrible 
gap in the poor hedge, made by the landlord’s order, so that 
they might all burst out of the garden in fine style; for it 
would have looked ridiculous for them to ride out at the gate. 

The poor man objected. “This is fine fun for princes, no 

[«J 


THE GARDENER AND HIS LANDLORD 


doubt — but they let him talk, while dogs and men together 
did more harm in one hour than all the hares in the province 
would have done in a century. 

Little princes, settle your own quarrels amongst yourselves. 
It is madness to have recourse to kings. You should never 
let them engage in your wars, nor even enter your domains. 


[ 7 ] 


THE MAN AND HIS IMAGE 


T HERE once was a man who loved himself very much, 
and who permitted no rivals in that love. He thought 
his face and figure the handsomest in all the world. 
Anything in the shape of a mirror that could show him his 
own likeness he took care to avoid; for he did not want to be 
reminded that perhaps he was over-rating his beauty. For 
this reason he hated looking-glasses and said they were false. 
He made a great mistake in this respect; but he did not mind, 
for he was quite content to live in the happiness the mistake 
afforded him. 

To cure him of so grievous an error, officious fate managed 
matters in such a way that wherever he turned his eyes they 
would fall on one of those little counsellors that ladies carry 
and appeal to when they are anxious about their appearance. 
He found mirrors in the houses; mirrors in the shops; mirrors 
in the pockets of gallants; mirrors even as ornaments on the 
waist-belts of ladies. 

What was he to do — this poor Narcissus? He thought 
to avoid all such things by going far away from the haunts of 
mankind, where he should never have to face a mirror again. 
But in the woods to which he retreated a clear rivulet ran. 
He happened into this to look and — saw himself again. 
Angrily he told himself that his eyes had been deluded by an 
idle fancy. Henceforth he would keep away from the water! 
This he tried his utmost to do; but who can resist the beauty 

[ 8 ] 


THE MAN AND HIS IMAGE 


of a woodland stream? There he was and remained, always 
with that which he had determined to avoid. 

My meaning is easily seen. It applies to everybody; for 
everybody takes some joy in harboring this error. The man 
in love with himself stands for the soul of each one of us. 
All the mirrors wherein he saw himself reflected stand for the 
faults of other people, in which we really see our own faults 
though we hate to recognise them as such. 


THE ANIMALS SICK OF THE PLAGUE 


O NE of those dread evils which spread terror far and 
wide, and which Heaven, in its anger, ordains for the 
punishment of wickedness upon earth — a plague in 
fact, and so dire a one as to make rich in one day that grim 
ferryman who takes a coin from all who cross the river Acheron 
to the land of the dead — such a plague was once waging war 
against the animals. All were attacked, although all did not 
die. So hopeless was the case that not one of them attempted 
to sustain their sinking lives. Even the sight of food did not 
rouse them. Wolves and foxes no longer turned eager and 
calculating eyes upon their gentle and guileless prey. The 
turtle-doves went no more in cooing pairs, but were content 
to avoid each other. Love and the joy that comes of love 
were both at an end. 

At length the lion called a council of all the beasts and 
addressed them in these words: “My dear friends, it seems to 
me that it is for our sins that this misfortune has fallen upon 
us. Would it not be well if the most blameworthy among us 
allowed himself to be offered as a sacrifice to appease the 
wrath of Heaven? By doing so he might secure our recovery. 
History tells us that this course is usually pursued in such 
cases as ours. Let us look into our consciences. For my own 
part, I freely admit that in order to satisfy my gluttony I 
have devoured an appalling number of sheep; and yet what 
had they done to me to deserve such a fate? Nothing that 

[ 10 ] 


THE ANIMALS SICK OF THE PLAGUE 


could be called an offence. Sometimes, indeed, I have gone 
so far as to eat the shepherd too ! On the whole, I think I had 
better give up myself for this act of sacrifice; that is, if we 
agree that it is a thing necessary to the general good. And 
yet I think it would be only fair that every one should declare 
his sins as well as I; for I could wish that, in justice, it were 
the most wicked that should perish.” 

“Sire,” said the fox, “you are really too yielding for a 
king, and your scruples show too much delicacy of feeling. 
Eating sheep indeed! What of that? — a foolish and rascally 
tribe! Is that a crime? No! a hundred times no! On the con- 
trary your noble jaws did but do them great honor. As for 
the shepherd, it may be fairly said that all the harm he got he 
merited, since he was one of those who fancy they have 
dominion over the animal kingdom.” 

Thus spake the fox and every other flatterer in the assembly 
applauded him. Nor did any seek to inquire deeply into the 
least pardonable offences of the tiger, the bear, and the other 
mighty ones. All those of an aggressive nature, right down to 
the simple watch-dog, were something like saints in their own 
opinions. 

When the ass stood forth in his turn he struck a different 
note: nothing of fangs and talons and blood. “I remember,” 
he said, “ that once in passing a field belonging to a monastery 
I was urged by hunger, by opportunity, by the tenderness of 
the grass, and perhaps by the evil one egging me on, to enter 
and crop just a taste, about as much as the length of my 
tongue. I know that I did wrong, having really no right 
there.” 


[ 11 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 


At these words all the assembly turned upon him. The 
wolf took upon himself to make a speech proving without 
doubt that the ass was an accursed wretch, a mangy brute, 
who certainly ought to be told off for sacrifice, since through 
his wickedness all their misfortunes had come about. His 
peccadillo was judged to be a hanging matter. “What! eat 
the grass belonging to another? How abominable a crime! 
Nothing but death could expiate such an outrage!” And 
forthwith they proved as much to the poor ass. 

Accordingly as your power is great or small, the judgments 
of a court will whiten or blacken your reputation. 


[ 12 ] 


THE UNHAPPILY MARRIED MAN 


I F goodness were always the companion of beauty I would 
seek a wife tomorrow; but as divorce between these two 
is no new thing, and as there are so few lovely forms 
around lovely souls, do not take it amiss that I refrain from 
seeking such a rare combination. 

I have seen many marriages, but not one of them has held 
out allurements for me. Nevertheless, nearly the whole four 
quarters of mankind courageously expose themselves to this 
the greatest of all hazards, and — the whole four quarters 
usually repent it. 

I will tell you of one who, having repented, found that 
there was nothing for it but to send home again his quarrel- 
some, avaricious, and jealous spouse. She was one whom 
nothing pleased; for her, nothing was right. For her, one 
rose too late; one went to bed too early. First, it was this, 
then, it was that, and then again ’twas something else. The 
servants raged. The husband was at his wit’s end. “You 
think of nothing, sir.” “You spend too much.” “You gad 
about, sir.” “You are idle.” Indeed she had so much to say 
that, in the end, tired of hearing such a termagant, he sent 
her to her parents in the country. There she mixed with those 
who minded the turkeys and pigs until she was thought to 
be somewhat tamed, when the husband sent for her again. 
“Well, my dear, how have you been getting on? How 
[ 13 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 

did you spend your time? Did you like the simple life of the 
country?” 

“Oh, pretty well!” she said, “but what annoyed me was 
to see the laziness of those people. They are worse there than 
here. They showed no care whatever for the herds and flocks 
they were supposed to mind. I didn’t forget to let them know 
what I thought of them. Of course, they didn’t like it, and 
they all hated me in the end.” 

“Ah! my dear. If you could not get on with people whom 
you saw for but a moment or so in the day and when they 
returned in the evening — if you made them tired of you ; 
what will the servants in this house become, who must have 
you railing at them the whole day long? And what will your 
poor husband do whom you expect to have near you all day 
and night too? Return to the village, my dear. Adieu! and 
if during my life the idea should possess me to have you back 
again, may I, for my sins, have two such as you for ever at 
my elbows in the world to come.” 


[ 14 ] 







' 







































































THE RAT RETIRED FROM THE WORLD 


T HE ancients had a legend which told of a certain rat 
who, weary of the anxieties of this world, retired to a 
cheese, therein to live in peace. Profound solitude 
reigned around the hermit. He worked so hard with his feet 
and his teeth that in a few days he had a spacious dwelling 
and food in plenty. What more could he desire? He lived 
well, and grew large and fat. 

One day a deputation from Rat-land waited upon him, 
begging that out of his abundance he would grant a slight 
dole towards fitting out a journey to a strange country where 
the rats hoped to get succour in their great war against the 
cat tribe. Ratopolis was besieged, and owing to the poverty 
of the beleaguered republic they were forced to start with 
empty wallets. They asked but little, believing that in a few 
days help would arrive. 

“My friends,” said the hermit, “earthly affairs no longer 
concern me. In what way could a poor recluse assist you? 
What could he do but pray for the help you need! My best 
hopes and wishes you mape assured of. ” With these words 
this latest among the salms shut his door. 


[ 15 ] 


THE MAIDEN 


CERTAIN damsel of considerable pride made up her 



mind to choose a husband who should be young. 


well built, and handsome; of agreeable manners and 


— note these two points — neither cold nor jealous. More- 
over, she held it necessary that he should have means, high 
birth, intellect; in fact, everything. But whoever was endowed 
with everything? 

The fates were evidently anxious to do their best for her, 
for they sent her most noteworthy suitors. But these the 
proud beauty found not half good enough. “What, men like 
those! You propose them for me! Why, they are pitiable! 
Look at them — fine types, indeed !” According to her, one 
was stupid; another’s nose was impossible. With this it was 
one thing; with that it was another; for superior people are 
disdainful above all things. 

After these eligible gentlemen had been dismissed, came 
others of less worth, and at these too she mocked. “Why,” 
said she, “I would not bemean myself to open the door to 
such. They must think me very anxious to be married. 
Thank Heaven my single state causes me no regrets. ” 

The maiden contented herself with such notions until 
advancing age made her step down from her pedestal. Good- 
by then to all suitors. One year passed and then another. 
Her anxiety increased, and after anger came grief. She felt 
that those little smiles and glances which, at the bidding of 


[ 16 ] 


THE MAIDEN 


love, lurk in the countenances of fair maidens were day by 
day deserting her. Finally, when love himself departed, her 
features gave pleasure to none. Then she had recourse to 
those hundred little tricks of the toilet to repair the ravages 
of time; but nothing that she could do arrested the depreda- 
tions of that despicable thief. One may repair a house gone 
to ruin: but the same thing is not possible with a face! 

Her refined ladyship now sang to a different tune, for her 
mirror advised her to take a husband without delay. Perhaps 
also her heart harbored the wish. Even superior persons may 
have longings! This one at last made a choice that people 
would at one time have thought impossible; for she was very 
pleased and happy in marrying an ugly cripple. 


[ 17 ] 


THE WISHES 


W HEN the Great Mogul held empire, there were 
certain little sprites who used to undertake all 
sorts of tasks helpful to mankind. They would 
do housework, stable-work, and even gardening. But if one 
interfered with them, all would be spoiled. 

One of these friendly sprites cultivated the garden of a 
worthy family living near the Ganges. His duties were per- 
formed deftly and noiselessly. He loved not only his master 
and mistress, but the garden also. Possibly the zephyrs, who 
are said to be friends of the sprites, helped him in his tasks. 
At any rate he did his very best, and never ceased in his 
efforts to load his hosts with every pleasure. To prove his 
zeal he would have stayed with these people for ever, in spite 
of the natural propensity of his kind for waywardness. But 
his mischievous fellow-sprites fell to plotting. They induced 
the chief of their band to remove him to another field of 
labor. This the chief promised and, either by caprice or by 
policy, finally brought about. Orders came that the devoted 
worker should set out for the uttermost part of Norway, there 
to take charge of a house which at all times of the year was 
covered with snow. So from being an Indian, the poor thing 
became a Laplander. 

“I am forced to leave you,” he said to his hosts, “but for 
what fault of mine this has come to pass I cannot tell. I only 
know that go I must, and in a very little while too; a month 

[ 18 ] 


THE WISHES 


perhaps, or maybe only a week. Make the most of the inter- 
val. Fortunately, I can fulfil three wishes for you; but not 
more than three.” 

To mankind there is nothing very out-of-the-way in merely 
wishing. These good people decided that their first wish 
should be for abundance, and straightway Abundance, by the 
double-handful, poured gold into their coffers; wheat into 
their granaries; wine into their cellars. Repletion was every- 
where. But, alas, what cares of direction, what keeping of 
accounts; what time and anxiety this affluence involved! 

Thieves plotted against them. Great lords borrowed from 
them. The prince taxed them. They were, in fact, reduced 
to misery by this excess of good fortune. At last they could 
endure it no longer. “Take back this awful wealth,” they 
cried. “Even the poor are happy in comparison with us, and 
poverty is more to be coveted than such riches. Away with 
these treasures! And thou, sweet Moderation, mother of all 
peace, sister of repose, come to us again!” With these words, 
which made their second wish, lo! Moderation returned and 
they received her with open arms, once again enjoying peace. 

Thus at the end of these two wishes they were exactly 
where they were in the first place, and so it is with all who are 
given to wishing, and wasting in dreams the time they had 
better have spent in doing. But being philosophical people 
they laughed, and the sprite laughed with them. To profit 
by his generosity when he had left them, they hazarded their 
third wish and asked for wisdom. Wisdom is a treasure which 
never embarrasses. 


[ 19 ] 


THE DAIRY-WOMAN AND THE PAIL OF MILK 


YOUNG country woman named Perrette set out one 



morning from her little farm with a pail of milk, 


which she cleverly balanced upon her head over a 


pad or cushion. She hurried with sprightly steps to the market 
town, and so that she might be the less encumbered, wore a 
skirt that was short and light and shoes low and easy. As she 
went, her thoughts ran upon the price to be gained for her 
milk, and she schemed a way to lay out the sum in the pur- 
chase of one hundred eggs. She was sure that with care and 
diligence these would yield three broods. 

“It would be quite easy for me,” she said, “to raise the 
chicks near the house. The fox would be clever who would 
not leave me enough to buy one pig. A pig would fatten at 
the cost of a little bran, and when he had grown a fair size 
I should make a bargain of him for a good round sum. And 
then, considering the price he will fetch, what is to prevent 
my putting into our stable a cow and a calf? I can fancy how 
the calf will frisk about among the sheep!” 

Thereupon Perrette herself frisked for joy, transported 
with the picture of her affluence. Over toppled the milk! 
Good-bye to calf and cow and pig and broods! This lady of 
wealth had to leave, with tearful eyes, her dissipated fortunes, 
and go straight to her husband framing excuses to avoid a 
beating. 

The farce became known to the whole countryside, and 


[ 20 ] 


THE DAIRY-WOMAN AND THE PAIL OF MILK 


people called Perrette by the name of “Milkpail” ever after. 

Who has never talked wildly? Who has never built castles 
in Spain? Wise men as well as milkmaids; sages and fools, 
all have waking dreams and find them sweet! Our senses are 
carried away by some flattering falsehood, and then wealth, 
honors, and beauty seem ours to command. 

Alone with my thoughts I challenge the bravest. I 
dethrone monarchs and the people rejoicing crown me instead, 
showering diadems upon my head. Then lo! a little accident 
happens to bring me back to my senses, and I am Poor Jack 
as before. 


[ 21 ] 


THE PRIEST AND THE CORPSE 


T HERE was a funeral. The dead body was going sadly 
towards its last resting place; and following, rather 
gladly, was the priest who meant to bury it as soon 
as possible. 

The dead man, in a leaden coffin, was borne in a coach, 
and was properly shrouded in the robe the dead always wear 
be it summer or winter. As for the priest, he sat near it, 
intoning as hard as he could all sorts of orisons, psalms, 
lessons, verses, and responses, in the hope that the more he 
gave the more would be paid for. “Leave it to me, Mr. 
Deadman,” his actions seemed to say, “I’ll give you a nice 
selection; a little of everything. It’s only a matter of fees, 
you know.” 

And the Rev. John Crow kept his eye on his silent charge 
as if he expected some one would make off with it. “Mr. 
Deadman,” his looks proclaimed, “by you I shall receive so 
and so much in money, so and so much in wax candles, and, 
possibly, a little more in incidental profits.” 

On the strength of these calculations he promised himself 
a quarter-cask of the best wine the neighborhood could offer. 
Beyond that he settled that a certain very attractive niece 
of his, as well as his housekeeper Paquette, should both have 
new dresses. 

Whilst these pleasant and generous thoughts were running 
in his mind there came a terrific shock. The car overturned. 
[ 22 ] 


THE PRIEST AND THE CORPSE 


The Rev. John Crow’s head was broken by the coffin which 
fell upon him. Alas for the poor priest! he went to heaven 
with the parishioner he thought only to bury. 

In reality, life over and over again is nothing but the fate 
of the Rev. John Crow who counted on his dead, and of 
Perrette who counted on her chickens. 


[ 23 ] 


THE MAN WHO RAN AFTER FORTUNE AND THE 
MAN WHO WAITED FOR HER IN HIS BED 

W HO does not run after Fortune? I would I were 
in some place where I could watch the eager 
crowds rushing from kingdom to kingdom in 
their vain chase after the daughter of Chance! 

They are indeed but faithful followers of a phantom; for 
when they think they have her, she is gone! Poor wretches! 
One must pity rather than blame their foolishness. “That 
ma^ 5 ” they say with sanguine voice, “raised cabbages; and 
now he is Pope! Are we not as good as he?” 

Ah! yes! a hundred times as good perhaps; but what of 
that? Fortune has no eyes for all your merit. Besides, is 
Papacy, after all, worth peace, which one must leave behind 
for it? Peace — a treasure that once was the possession of 
gods alone — is seldom granted to the votaries of Dame 
Fortune. Do not seek her; and then she will seek you. That 
is the way with women! 

There once were two friends, who lived comfortably and 
prospered moderately in a village; but one of them was 
always wishing to do better. One day he said to the other, 
“Suppose we left this place and tried our luck elsewhere? 
You know that a prophet is never received in his own country !” 

“You try, by all means,” returned his friend, “but as 
for me, I am contented where I am. I desire neither better 
climate nor better possibilities. You please yourself. Follow 

[ 24 ] 


THE MAN WHO RAN AFTER FORTUNE 


your unquiet spirit. You’ll soon return, and I shall sleep 
soundly enough awaiting you.” 

So the man of ambition, or the money-grubber, whichever 
you like to call him, took to the road, and arrived next day 
at a place where, if anywhere. Dame Fortune should be 
found, namely, the court. He stayed at court for some long 
time, never missing an opportunity to put himself in the way 
of favors. He was in evidence when the king went to bed, 
when he arose, and on all other propitious occasions. 

“What’s amiss?” he said at last. “Fortune, I am con- 
vinced, dwells here; for I have seen her the guest now of this 
one and now of that one. How is it that I cannot entertain 
the capricious creature? I must try her elsewhere. I have 
already been told that the people of this place are exceedingly 
ambitious. Evidently there is no room for me here. So, 
good-bye! gentleman of the court, and follow to the bitter 
end this will-o’-the-wisp! They tell me that Dame Fortune 
has temples in Surat. Very well! We will go there.” 

He embarked at once. What hearts of bronze mankind 
has! The man who first attempted this awful route and 
defied its terrors must have had a heart of adamant. Often 
did our traveller turn his eyes towards his little home as first 
pirates, then contrary winds, then calms, then rocks in turn 
assailed him. Strange it is that men should take such pains 
to meet death, since it will come only too quickly to them in 
their homes! 

Our adventurer arrived in India. There they told him that 
Japan was the place where Fortune dispensed her favors. He 
hurried there. The sea wearied of carrying him about. In the 
[ 25 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 


end all the profit his long voyages brought him was the lesson 
which he learnt from savages, and that was: “Stay in your 
own country and let Nature instruct you.” Japan, India, or 
anywhere else; no one place was better than another as a 
hunting ground for Fortune; so the conclusion was forced 
upon him that he had been wiser had he stayed in his own 
village. At last he renounced all wanderings and returned to 
his own country; and as he caught sight of his home from 
afar he wept for joy, and cried: “Happy is the man who, 
staying in his home, finds constant occupation in adjusting 
his desires to his surroundings. To him the court, the sea, 
and the land of Fortune are but hearsay. Thou, fickle Dame, 
flaunting before our eyes dignities and wealth, dost cause us 
to follow after these allurements to the ends of the earth, 
only to find .them empty shams. Henceforth I wander no 
more, foi here at home a hundred times more success shall I 
find.” 

Having registered this vow against Fortune the wanderer 
came to the door of his friend. There sat Fortune, waiting on 
the threshold, whilst his friend slumbered within. 


AN ANIMAL IN THE MOON 


W HILE one philosopher tells us that men are con- 
stantly the dupes of their own senses, another 
will swear that the senses never deceive. Both 
are right. Philosophy truly affirms that the senses will deceive 
so long as men are content to take upon trust the evidence 
the senses bring. But if this evidence is weighed, measured, 
and tested by every available resource of science the senses 
can deceive no one. 

Not long ago, when a large telescope was levelled to observe 
the moon, the observer was astounded to see what he took to 
be some new animal in this lovely planet. Everybody was 
excited about the marvellous appearance. Something had 
occurred up above there which, without doubt, must mean 
great changes of some sort. Who could tell but that all the 
dreadful wars that were convulsing Europe had not been 
caused by it? The king, who patronised the sciences, hastened 
to the observatory to see the sight, and see it he did. There 
was the monster right enough! 

And what was it after all? — Nothing but a poor little 
mouse that had by some unlucky chance got in between the 
lenses of the telescope. Here was the cause of all the devas- 
tating wars! Everybody laughed. 


[ 27 ] 


THE FORTUNE-TELLERS 


R EPUTATIONS may be made by the merest chances, 
and yet reputations control the fashions. Every- 
where around one sees prejudices, scheming, and 
obtuseness; but little or no justice. Nothing can be done to 
stem this torrent of evil. It must run its course. It always 
has been and always will be. 

A woman in Paris once made it her profession to tell 
fortunes. She became very popular and had great success. 
Did anybody lose anything; had any one a sweetheart; had 
any wife a husband she was tired of; any husband a jealous 
wife, to the prophetess such would run simply to be told the 
thing that it was comforting to hear. 

The stock-in-trade of this fortune-teller consisted merely 
of a convincing manner, a few words of scientific jargon, a 
great deal of impudence, and much good luck. All these things 
together so impressed the people that as often as not they 
would cry, “Miraculous!” In short, although the woman’s 
ignorance was very great she passed for a real oracle. 

Notwithstanding the fact that this oracle only lived in a 
garret, she found so many ready to pay her well for her shams 
that she soon grew rich enough to improve the position of her 
husband, to rent an office, and buy a house. 

The empty garret was soon tenanted by another woman 
to whom all the town — women, girls, valets, fine gentlemen 
— everybody in fact swarmed, as before, to consult their 

[ 28 ] 


THE FORTUNE-TELLERS 


destiny. The former tenant had built up such a reputation 
that the garret was still a sibyl’s den, in spite of the fact that 
quite a different creature dwelt in it. 

“I tell fortunes? Surely you’re joking! Why, I cannot 
read, and as for writing, I never learnt more than to make 
my mark.” But these disclaimers were useless. People 
insisted on having their fortunes told, and she had to do it. 
In consequence, she put by plenty of money, being able to 
earn, in spite of herself, quite as much as two lawyers could. 
The poverty of her home was a help rather than a hindrance. 
Four broken chairs and a broom-handle savored of a witch’s 
frolic. 

If this woman had told the truth in a room well-furnished 
she would have been scorned. The fashion for a garret had 
set in, and garret it must be. 

In her new chambers the first fortune-teller waited in 
vain; for it was the outward sign alone that brought customers, 
and the sign was poverty. 


[ 29 ] 


THE COBBLER AND THE FINANCIER 


T HERE was once a cobbler who was so light hearted 
that he sang from morning to night. It was wonderful 
to watch him at his work, and more wonderful still 
to hear his runs and trills. He was in fact happier than the 
Seven Sages. 

This merry soul had a neighbor who was exactly opposite. 
He sang little and slept less; for he was a financier, and made 
of money, as they say. Whenever it happened that after a 
sleepless night he would doze off in the early morning, the 
cobbler, who was always up betimes, would wake him up 
again with his joyful songs. 

“Ha!” thought the man of wealth, “what a misfortune it 
is that one cannot buy sleep in the open market as one buys 
food and drink!” Then an idea came to him. He invited the 
cobbler to his house, where he asked him questions. 

“Tell me, Master Gregory, what do you suppose your 
earnings amount to in a year?” 

“In a year,” laughed the cobbler, “that’s more than I 
know. I never keep accounts that way, nor even keep one 
day from another. So long as I can make both ends meet, 
that’s good enough for me!” 

“Really!” replied the financier. “But what can you earn 
in one day?” 

“Oh, sometimes more and sometimes less. The mischief 
of it is that there are so many feast days and high days and 

[30] 


THE COBBLER AND THE FINANCIER 


fast days crowded into the year, on which, as the priest tells 
us, it is wicked to work at all ; and worse still he keeps on find- 
ing some new saint or other to give weight to his sermons. If 
it were not for that, cobbling would be a fine paying game. ” 

At this the wealthy man laughed. “Look here, my friend, 
today I’ll lift you to the seats of the mighty! Here is a hundred 
pounds. Keep them and use them with care.” 

When the cobbler held the bag of money in his hand he 
imagined that it must be as much as would be coined in a 
hundred years. 

Returning home he buried the bag in his cellar. He buried 
his joy with it, for there were no more songs. From the mo- 
ment he came into possession of this wealth, the love of which 
is the root of all evil, his voice left him, and not only his voice, 
but his sleep also. And in place of these came anxiety, sus- 
picion, and alarms; guests which stayed with him constantly. 
All day he kept his eye on the cellar door. Did a cat make a 
noise in the night, then surely that cat was after his money. 

At last, in despair, the wretched cobbler ran to the financier 
whom he now no longer kept awake. “Oh, give me back my 
joy in life, my songs, my sleep; and take your hundred pounds 
again. ” 


[ 31 ] 


THE POWER OF FABLE 


I N the old, vain, and fickle city of Athens, an orator, seeing 
how the light-hearted citizens were blind to certain 
dangers which threatened the state, presented himself 
before the tribune, and there sought, by the very tyranny of 
his forceful eloquence, to move the heart of the republic 
towards a sense of the common welfare. 

But the people neither heard nor heeded. Then the orator 
had recourse to more urgent and stronger arguments, meta- 
phors, powerful enough to touch hearts of stone. He spoke 
in thunders that might have raised the dead; but his words 
were carried away on the wind. The people did not deign to 
hear the launching of these thunderbolts. They were engrossed 
in something quite different. A fight between two urchins was 
what the crowd found so engaging; not the orator’s warnings. 

What then did the speaker do? He tried another plan. 
“ Ceres,” he began, “made a voyage one day with an eel and 
a swallow. After a time the three travellers were stopped by 
a river. This the eel got over by swimming and the swallow 
by flying — ” 

“Well! what about Ceres? What did she do?” cried the 
crowd with one voice. 

“She did what she did!” retorted the speaker in anger. 
“But first she raged against you. What! Does it take a 
child’s story to open your ears, you who should be eager for 
any news of the peril that menaces; you, the only state in 

[ 32 ] 


THE POWER OF FABLE 


Greece that takes no heed? You ask what Ceres did. Why do 
you not ask what Philip does?’ 5 

At this reproach the assembly was stirred. A mere fable 
brought them open-eared to all the orator would say. 


[ 33 ] 


THE DOG WHO CARRIED HIS MASTER’S DINNER 


DOG who had been taught to carry to his master the 



noon meal was one day trotting along with the 


^ burden slung around his neck. He was tempted to 
take a taste himself; but knew that it would be wrong to do 
so, and being a temperate, self-governed dog he refrained. 
We of the human race allow ourselves to be tempted by things 
often enough; but, strange as it is, there seems to be more 
difficulty in teaching mankind to resist temptation than there 
is in teaching dogs to do so. 

On this particular day the dog was met by a mastiff who 
at once wanted the dinner, but did not find it so easy to 
capture as he thought; for our dog put it down and stood 
guard over it. There was a mighty fight. Soon others arrived; 
curs that were used to knocks and kicks while picking up a 
living in the streets. Seeing that he should be badly over- 
matched, and that his master’s dinner was in danger of being 
devoured by the crowd, he bethought himself how he too 
might have his share, if shared it must be. So he very wisely 
exclaimed, “No fighting, gentlemen, my share will suffice 
me. Do as you please with the rest.” With these words he 
snapped up a portion, upon which all the rest began to pull 
and jostle and feasted merrily. 


[ 34 ] 


THYRSIS AND AMARANTH 


A SHEPHERD deeply in love with a shepherdess was 
sitting one day by her side trying to find words to 
express the emotions her charms created in his breast. 
“Ah! Amaranth, dear,” he sighed, “could you but feel, 
as I do, a certain pain which, whilst it tears the heart, is so 
delightful that it enchants, you would say that nothing under 
heaven is its equal. Let me tell you of it. Believe me, trust 
me. Would I deceive you? You, for whom I am filled with the 
tenderest sentiments the heart can feel!” 

“And what, my Thyrsis, is the name you give this pleasing 
pain?” 

“It is called love,” said Thyrsis. 

“Ah!” responded the maiden, “that is a beautiful name. 
Tell me by what signs I may know it, if it come to me. What 
are the feelings it gives one?” 

Thyrsis, taking heart of grace, replied with much ardor: 
“One feels an anguish beside which the joys of kings are but 
dull and insipid. One forgets oneself, and takes pleasure in 
the solitudes of the woods. To glance into a brook is to see, 
not oneself, but an ever-haunting image. To any other form 
one’s eyes are blind. It may be that there is a shepherd in 
the village at whose voice, at the mention of whose name, you 
will blush; at the thought of whom you will sigh. Why, one 
knows not! To see him will be a burning desire, and yet you 
would shrink from him.” 


[ 35 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 


“Oho!” said Amaranth. “Is this then the pain you have 
preached so much! It is hardly new to me. I seem to know 
something of it. ” The heart of Thyrsis leapt, for he thought 
that at last he had gained his end; when the fair one added, 
“Tis just in this way that I feel for Cladimant!” 

Imagine the vexation and misery of poor Thyrsis! 


[ 36 ] 

































THE RAT AND THE ELEPHANT 



N exceedingly small rat was watching a big elephant 
and sneering at the slowness of his steps. 


The enormous animal was heavily laden. On his 
back rose a three-storied howdah, in which were a celebrated 
sultana, her dog, her cat, her monkey, her parrot, her old 
servant, and all her household. They were going upon a 
pilgrimage. 

The rat wondered why all the people should express aston- 
ishment at seeing this enormous bulk — “As if the fact of 
occupying more or less space implied that one was the more or 
less important accordingly! What is it you admire in him, 
you men? If it is only the weight of his body which fills the 
children with terror, then we rats, small as we are, consider 
ourselves not one grain less than the elephant.” He would 
have said more; but the cat, bounding out of her cage, let 
him see in an instant that a rat is not an elephant. 


[ 37 ] 


THE HOROSCOPE 


A FATHER had an only son whom he loved exceedingly. 

His affection caused him to be so anxious as to the 
boy’s welfare that he sought to learn from astrologers 
and fortune-tellers what fate was in store for the son and heir. 
One of these soothsayers told him that an especial danger lay 
with lions, from which the youth must be guarded until the 
age of twenty was reached, but not after. The father, to make 
sure of this precaution, upon the issue of which depended the 
life of his loved one, commanded that by no chance should the 
boy ever be permitted to go beyond the threshold of the house. 
Ample provision was made for the satisfaction of all the wishes 
proper to youth in the way of play with his companions, 
jumping, running, walking, and so forth. As the age 
approached when the spirits of youth yearn for the chase, he 
was taught to abhor that sport. 

But temperament cannot be changed by persuasion and 
counsel, nor by enlightenment. The young man, eager, 
ardent, and full of courage, no sooner felt the promptings of 
his years than he sighed for the forbidden pleasures. The 
greater the hindrance the stronger the desire. Knowing the 
reason of his restrictions, and seeing day by day in his palatial 
home the hunting scenes pictured in paint and tapestry on 
every wall, his excitement became unrestrained. 

Once his eye fell upon a pictured lion. “Oh! Monster!” 
he exclaimed in a transport of indignation. “It is to you that 

[ 38 ] 


THE HOROSCOPE 


the shade and fetters in which I live are due!” With that he 
struck the lion a heavy blow with his fist. Hidden under the 
tapestry a great nail offered its cruel point to his hand. The 
wound grew beyond the reach of medical skill, and in the 
end this life, so guarded and cherished, was lost by means of 
the very care taken to preserve it. 

The same jealous precaution proved fatal to the poet 
^Eschylus. It is said that some fortune-teller threatened him 
with the fall of a house as his doom, upon which he at once 
left the town and made his bed in the open fields, far from 
roofs and beneath the sky. But an eagle flew by overhead 
carrying in its talons a tortoise, and seeing the bald head of 
the poet beneath, which it mistook for a stone, the bird let 
fall its prey in order to break the shell of the tortoise. Thus 
were the days of poor iEschylus ended. 


[ 39 ] 


JUPITER AND THE THUNDERBOLTS 


O NE day, as Jupiter seated on high looked down upon 
the world, he was incensed at the faults committed 
by mankind. “Let us,” he said, “have some other 
occupants in the regions of the universe in place of these 
present inhabitants who importune and weary me. Go you 
to Hades, Mercury, and bring hither the cruellest of the furies. 
This time, O race that I have too tenderly nurtured, you shall 
perish.” 

After this outburst the temper of the god began to cool. 
Mercury, light of wing and sweet of tongue, descended 
to the abode of the dread sisters Tisiphone, Megsera, and 
Alecto, and his choice fell upon the latter, the pitiless one. 
She, feeling proud of the preference, grew so arrogant as to 
swear by Pluto that the whole of the human brood should 
soon people his domains. But Jupiter did not approve of the 
vow this member of the Eumenides had sworn, and he sent 
her back to Hades. At the same time he launched a thunder- 
bolt upon one particularly perfidious race of men. This, how- 
ever, being hurled by a father’s arm, mercifully fell in a desert, 
causing less ruin than alarm. What followed from this was 
simply that the wicked brood took heart at such indulgence 
and did not trouble to mend their ways. Then all the gods in 
Olympus complained, until he who controls the clouds swore 
by the Styx that further storms should be sent and that they 
should not fail as the other had. 

[ 40 ] 


JUPITER AND THE THUNDERBOLTS 


The Olympians only smiled at this. They told Jupiter 
that as he was the father it would be better if he left in other 
hands the making of thunderbolts. Vulcan undertook the 
task. Soon his furnaces glowed with bolts of two kinds; one 
that hits its mark with a deadly unerring — and that is the 
sort which any of the Olympian gods will hurl; whilst the 
other sort was that which becomes scattered on its course and 
does damage only to the mountain tops, or perchance is 
even lost on the way. It is this kind of thunderbolt that 
Jupiter sends. His fatherly heart permits him to use no other. 


r«i 


EDUCATION 


NCE upon a time there were two dogs, one named 



Lurcher and the other Caesar. They were brothers; 


handsome, well-built, and plucky, and descended 
from dogs who were famous in their day. These two brothers, 
falling into the hands of different masters, found their des- 
tinies likewise in different spheres; for whilst one haunted the 
forests, the other lurched about a kitchen. 

The names to which they now answered were not, how- 
ever, the names that were first given them. The influence of 
each one’s career upon his nature brought about a new name 
and a new reputation; for Caesar’s nature was improved and 
strengthened by the life he led, whilst Lurcher’s was made 
more and more despicable by a degraded existence. A scullion 
named him Lurcher; but the other dog received his noble 
name on account of his life of high adventure. He had held 
many a stag at bay, killed many a hare, and otherwise risen 
to the position of a Caesar among dogs. Care was taken that 
he should not mate indiscriminately, so that his descendants’ 
blood should not degenerate. On the other hand, poor Lurcher 
bestowed his affections wherever he would and his brood 
became populous. He was the progenitor of all turn-spits in 
Prance; a variety which became common enough to form at 
last a race in themselves. They show more readiness to flee 
than to attack, and are the very antipodes of the Caesars. 


[ 42 ] 


DEMOCRITUS AND THE PEOPLE OF ABDERA 


I HAVE always hated the opinions of the mob. A mob 
seems profane, unjust, and rash, putting false construc- 
tion on all things, and judging every matter by a mob- 
made standard. 

Democritus had experience of this. His countrymen 
thought him mad. Little minds! But then, no one is a prophet 
in his own country! The people themselves were mad, of 
course, and Democritus was the wise man. Nevertheless the 
error went so far that the city of Abdera sent a messenger to 
the great physician Hippocrates, requesting him both by 
letter and by spoken word to come and restore the sage’s 
reason. 

“Our citizen,” said the spokesman with tears in his eyes, 
“has lost his wits, alas! Study has corrupted Democritus. 
If he were less wise we should esteem him much more. He 
will have it that there is no limit to the number of worlds like 
ours and that possibly they are inhabited with numberless 
Democrituses. Not satisfied with these wild dreams, he talks 
also of atoms — phantoms born only in his own empty brain. 
Then, measuring the very heavens, though he remains here 
below to do it, he claims to know the universe; yet admits 
that he does not know himself. Time was when he could 
control debates, now he mutters only to himself. So come, 
thou divine mortal, for the patient’s case is a bad one.” 
Hippocrates, though he had little faith in these people, 
[ 43 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 


went nevertheless. Now mark, I beg of you, what strange 
meetings fate may bring about in this life! Hippocrates 
arrived just at the time when this man, who was supposed 
to have neither sense nor reason, happened to be searching 
into a question as to whether this very reason was seated in 
the heart or in the head of men and beasts. 

Sitting in leafy shade, beside a brook, and with many a 
volume at his feet, he was occupied wholly with a study of 
the convolutions of the brain; and thus absorbed, as his man- 
ner was, he scarcely noticed the advance of his friend the 
learned physician. Their greeting was soon over as you may 
imagine, for the sage is at all times chary of time and speech. 
So having put aside mere trifles of conversation, they reasoned 
upon man and his mind, and next fell to talking upon ethics. 

It is not necessary that I should here enlarge upon what 
each had to say to the other on these matters. 


THE ACORN AND THE PUMPKIN 


VILLAGER was once struck with the largeness of a 



pumpkin and the thinness of the stem upon which 


^ ^ it grew. “What could the Almighty have been 
thinking about?” he cried. “He has certainly chosen a bad 
place for a pumpkin to grow. Now I would have hung it on 
one of these oaks. That would have been just as it should be. 
Like fruit, like tree! What a pity,” said he, addressing him- 
self, “that you were not on the spot to give advice at the 
Creation which the parson preaches about. Everything would 
have been properly done then. For instance; wouldn’t this 
acorn, no bigger than my little finger, be better hanging on 
this frail stem? The Almighty has blundered there surely! 
The more I think about these fruits and their situations, the 
more it seems to me that it is all a mistake. ” 

Becoming worried by so much reflection our man cast 
himself under an oak saying, “A man can’t sleep when he 
has so much brain.” Then he at once dropped off into a nap. 

Presently an acorn fell plump upon his nose. Starting 
from sleep, he put his hand up to see what had happened and 
found the acorn caught in his beard, whilst his nose began to 
pain and bleed. “Oh, oh!” he cried, “I am bleeding. How 
would it have been if a heavier mass than this had fallen from 
the tree: if this acorn had been a pumpkin? The Almighty 
did not intend that, I see. Doubtless he was right. I under- 
stand the reason why perfectly now.” 


[ 45 ] 


THE SCHOOLBOY, THE PEDANT, AND THE OWNER 
OF A GARDEN 


YOUNGSTER, who was doubly foolish and doubly a 



rogue, was given, they say, to robbing a neighbor’s 


garden of its fruit and flowers. This may have been 
because he was too young to know better, and perhaps because 
teachers do not always mould the minds of young people in 
the right way. 

The owner of the garden boasted in each season the very 
best of what was due. In spring he could show the most 
delightful blossoms and in autumn the very pick of all the 
apples. 

One day he espied this schoolboy carelessly climbing a 
fruit tree and knocking off the buds, those sweet and fragile 
forerunners of promised fruit in abundance. The urchin even 
broke off a bough, and did so much other damage that the 
owner sent a message of complaint to the boy’s schoolmaster. 
This worthy soon appeared, and behind him a tribe of the 
scholars, who swarmed into the orchard and began behaving 
worse than the first one. The schoolmaster’s plan in thus 
aggravating the injury was really to make an opportunity for 
delivering them all a good lesson, which they should remember 
all their lives. He quoted Virgil and Cicero; he made many 
scientific allusions and ran his discourse to such a length that 
the little wretches were able to get all over the garden and 
despoil it in a hundred places. 


[ 46 ] 


THE SCULPTOR AND THE STATUE OF JUPITER 


O NCE a sculptor who saw for sale a block of marble 
was so struck with its beauty that he could not resist 
the temptation to buy it. When it was in his studio 
he thought to himself, “Now what shall my chisel make of 
it? Shall it be a god, a table, or a basin? It shall be a god. 
And I, myself, shall ordain that the god shall poise a thunder- 
bolt in his hand. So tremble, mortals, and worship! Behold 
the lord of the earth!” 

The artist set to work and expressed so powerfully the 
attributes of the god that those who saw it averred that it 
only lacked speech to be Jupiter himself. It is said that the 
sculptor had scarcely completed the statue when he became 
so overawed as to fear and tremble before the work of his 
own hands. 

The poet of old, likewise, greatly dreaded the hate and 
the wrath of the gods he himself created: a weakness which 
left little to choose between him and the sculptor. 


[ 47 ] 


THE OYSTER AND THE PLEADERS 
NE day two pilgrims espied upon the sands of the 



shore an oyster that had been thrown up by the tide. 


They devoured it with their eyes whilst pointing at 
it with their fingers; but whose teeth should deal with it was 
a matter of dispute. 

When one stopped to pick up the prey the other pushed 
him away saying: “It would be just as well first to decide 
which of us is to have the pleasure of it. He who first saw it 
should swallow it, and let the other watch him eat. ” 

“If you settle the affair that way,” replied his companion, 
“I have good eyes, thank God.” 

“But my sight is not bad either,” said the other, “and I 
saw it before you did, and that I’ll stake my life upon.” 

“Well, suppose you did see it, I smelt it.” 

During this lively interlude Justice Nincompoop arrived 
on the scene, and to him they appealed to judge their claims. 
The justice very gravely took the oyster, opened it, and put 
it into his mouth, whilst the two claimants looked on. Having 
deliberately swallowed the oyster, the justice, in the porten- 
tous tones of a Lord Chief Justice, said, “The court here 
a wards each of you a shell, without costs. Let each go home 
peaceably. ” 


[ 48 ] 


THE CAT AND THE FOX 


T HE cat and the fox, in the manner of good little saints, 
started out upon a pilgrimage. They were both 
humbugs, arch-hypocrites, two downright highway- 
men, who for the expenses of their journey indemnified them- 
selves by seeing who could devour the most fowls and gobble 
the most cheese. 

The way was long and therefore wearisome, so they short- 
ened it by arguing. Argumentation is a great help. Without 
it one would go to sleep. Our pilgrims shouted themselves 
hoarse. Then having argued themselves out, they talked of 
other things. 

At length the fox said to the cat, “ You pretend that you’re 
very clever. Do you know as much as I? I have a hundred 
ruses up my sleeve.” 

“No,” answered the cat, “I have but one; but that is 
always ready to hand, and I maintain that it is worth a thou- 
sand other dodges.” 

Then they fell again to disputing one against the other on 
each side of the question, the whys and the wherefores, raising 
their voices higher and higher. Presently the sudden appear- 
ance of a pack of hounds stopped their noise. 

The cat said to the fox, “Now, my friend, ransack that 
cunning brain of yours for one of your thousand ruses. Fetch 
down from your sleeve one of those certain stratagems. As 

[ 49 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 


for me, this is my dodge.” So saying, he bounded to a tall 
tree and climbed to its top with alacrity. 

The fox tried a hundred futile doublings; ran into a hun- 
dred holes; put the hounds at fault a hundred times; tried 
everywhere to find a safe place of retreat, but everywhere 
failed between being smoked out of one and driven out of 
another by the hounds. Finally, as he came out of a hole two 
nimble dogs set upon him and strangled him at the first grip. 


[ 50 ] 


THE MONKEY AND THE CAT 


B ERTRAND was a monkey and Ratter was a cat. They 
shared the same house and had the same master, and 
a mischievous pair they were. It was impossible to 
scare them. If anything was missed or spoiled, no one thought 
of blaming the other people in the house. Bertrand stole all 
he could lay his hands upon, and as for Ratter, he gave more 
attention to cheese than he did to the mice. 

One day, in the chimney corner, these two rascals sat 
watching some chestnuts that were roasting before the fire. 
How jolly it would be to steal them they thought: doubly 
desirable, for it would not only be joy to themselves, but an 
annoyance to others. 

“Brother,” said Bertrand to Ratter, “this day you shall 
achieve your master-stroke: you shall snatch some chestnuts 
out of the fire for me. Providence has not fitted me for that 
sort of game. If it had, I assure you chestnuts would have a 
fine time.” 

No sooner said than done. Ratter delicately stirred the 
cinders with his paw, stretched out his claws two or three 
times to prepare for the stroke, and then adroitly whipped 
out first one, then two, then three of the chestnuts, whilst 
Bertrand crunched them up between his teeth. In came a 
servant, and there was an end of the business. Farewell, ye 
rogues! I am told that Ratter was by no means satisfied 
with the affair. 


[ 51 ] 


THE DOG WITH HIS EARS CROPPED 


W 


‘HAT have I done to be treated in this way? 
Mutilated by my own master! A nice state to 
be in! Dare I present myself before other dogs? 


O ye kings over the animals, or rather tyrants of them, would 
any creature do the same to you?” 

Such were the lamentations of poor Fido, a young house- 
dog, whilst those who were busy cropping his ears remained 
quite untouched by his piercing and dolorous howls. 

Fido believed himself to be ruined for life; but he very 
shortly found that he was a gainer by the maiming. For being 
by nature disposed to pilfer from his companions, it would 
come within his experience to have many misadventures 
wherein his ears would be torn in a hundred places. 

Aggressive dogs always have ragged ears. The less they 
have for other dogs’ teeth to fasten upon the better. 

When one has but a single weak place to defend, one pro- 
tects it against an onset. Witness Master Fido armed with a 
spiked collar, and having no more ears to catch hold of than 
are on my hand. Even a wolf would not have known where to 
take him. 


[ 52 ] 


THE LIONESS AND THE SHE-BEAR 


A LIONESS had lost one of her cubs. A hunter had 
made away with it, and the poor mother roared out her 
wailings to such an extent that all the inhabitants 
of the forest were seriously disturbed. The spells of the night* 
its darkness and its silence, were powerless to hush the tumult 
of the queen of the forest. Sleep was driven from every animal 
within hearing. 

At last the she-bear rose up and coming to the wailing 
lioness said, “Good Madam, just one word with you. All 
those little ones that have passed between your teeth, had 
they neither fathers nor mothers ?” 

“To be sure they had.” 

“Then if that be so, and as none have come to mourn their 
dead in cries which would split our heads : if so many mothers 
have borne their loss silently, why cannot you be silent also?” 

“I? I be silent? Unhappy I? Ah! I have lost my son! 
There is nought for me but to drag out a miserable old age. ” 
“But pray tell me what obliges you to do so.” 

“Alas! Destiny. It is Destiny that hates me.” 

Those are the words that are for ever in the mouths of us all. 
Unhappy human kind let this address itself to you. I 
hear nothing but the echoing murmur of trifling complaints. 
Whoever, in like case, believes himself the hated of the gods, 
let him consider Hecuba, and he will render thanks for their 
clemency. 


[ 53 ] 


THE RABBITS 


W HEN I have noticed how man acts at times, and 
how, in a thousand ways, he comports himself 
just as the lower animals do, I have often said 
to myself that the lord of these lower orders has no fewer 
faults than his subjects. 

Nature has allowed every living thing a drop or two from 
the fount at which the spirits of all creatures imbibe. 

I will prove what I say. 

If at the hour when night has scarcely passed and day 
hardly begun I climb into a tree, on the edge of some wood, 
and, like a new Jupiter from the heights of Olympus, I send 
a shot at some unsuspecting rabbit, then the whole colony of 
rabbits, who were enjoying their thyme-scented meal with 
open eyes and listening ears upon the heath, immediately 
scamper away. The report sends them all to seek refuge in 
their subterranean city. 

But their great fright is soon over; the danger quickly 
forgotten. Again I see the rabbits more light-hearted than 
ever coming close under my death-dealing hand. 

Does not this give us a picture of mankind? Dispersed by 
some storm, men no sooner reach a haven than they are ready 
again to risk the same winds and the same distress. True 
rabbits, they run again into the death-dealing hands of 
fortune. 

Let us add to this example another of a more ordinary kind. 
[ 54 ] 


THE RABBITS 


When strange dogs pass through any spot beyond their 
customary route there is a grand to-do. I leave you to picture 
it. All the dogs of the district with one idea in their heads 
join forces, barking and biting, to chase the intruder beyond 
the bounds of their territory. 

So, it may be, a similar joint-interest in property or in 
glory and grandeur leads such people as the governors of 
states, certain favored courtiers, and people of a trade to 
behave exactly like these jealous dogs. All of us, as a rule, 
rob the chance-comer and tear him to pieces. Vain ladies and 
men of letters are usually so disposed. Woe betide the newly- 
arrived beauty or a new writer! 

As few as possible fighting round the cake! That’s the 
best way! 

I could bring a hundred examples to bear upon this subject; 
but the shorter a discourse is the better. I take the masters of 
literature for my model in this and hold that in the best of 
themes something should be left unsaid for the reader to con- 
sider about. Therefore this discourse shall end. 


[ 55 ] 


THE GODS WISHING TO INSTRUCT 
A SON OF JUPITER 


J UPITER had a son, who, sensible of his lofty origin, 
showed always a god-like spirit. Childhood is not much 
concerned with loving; yet to the childhood of this 
young god, loving and wishing to be loved was the chief con- 
cern. In him, love and reason which grow with years, out- 
raced Time, that light-winged bearer of the seasons which 
come, alas! only too quickly. 

Flora, with laughing looks and winning airs, was the first 
to touch the heart of the youthful Olympian. Everything 
that passion could inspire — delicate sentiments full of tender- 
ness, tears, and sighs — all were there : he forgot nothing. As 
a son of Jupiter he would by right of birth be dowered with 
greater gifts than the sons of other gods; and it seemed as 
though all his behaviour were prompted by the reminiscence 
that he had indeed already been a lover in some former state, 
so well did he play the part. 

Nevertheless, it was Jupiter’s wish that the boy should be 
taught, and assembling the gods in council he said, “So far, 
I have never been at fault in the conduct of the universe which 
I have ruled unaided; but there are various charges which I 
now have decided to distribute amongst the younger gods. 
This beloved child of mine I have already counted upon. He 
is of my own blood and many an altar already flames in his 

[ 56 ] 


GODS INSTRUCT A SON OF JUPITER 


honor. Yet to merit his rank among the immortals it is neces- 
sary that he should possess all knowledge.” 

As the god of the thunders ceased the w T hole assembly 
applauded. As for the boy himself, he did not appear to be 
above the wish to learn everything. 

“I undertake,” said Mars, the god of war, “ to teach him 
the art by which so many heroes have won the glories of 
Olympus and extended the empire.” 

“I will be his master in the art of the lyre,” promised the 
fair and learned Apollo. 

“And I,” said Hercules with the lion’s-skin, “will teach 
him how to overcome Vice and quell evil passions, those 
poisonous monsters which like Hydras are ever reborn in the 
heart. A foe to effeminate pleasures, he shall learn from me 
those too seldom trodden paths that lead to honor along the 
tracks of virtue.” 

When it came to Cupid, the god of love, to speak he simply 
said, “I can show him everything.” 


[ 57 ] 


THE LION, THE MONKEY, AND THE TWO ASSES 


K ING LION, thinking that he would govern better if 
he took a few lessons in moral philosophy, had a 
monkey brought to him one fine day who was a 
master of arts in the monkey tribe. The first lesson he gave 
was as follows: 

“Great King, in order to govern wisely, a prince should 
always consider the good of the country before yielding to 
that feeling which is commonly known as self-love, for that 
fault is the father of all the vices one sees in animals. To rid 
oneself of this sentiment is not an easy thing to do, and is not 
to be done in a day. Indeed, merely to moderate it is to achieve 
a good deal, and if you succeed so far you will never tolerate 
in yourself anything ridiculous or unjust .’ 5 

“Give me , 55 commanded the king, “an example of each 
of those faults . 55 

“Every species of creature , 55 continued the philosopher, 
“esteems itself in its heart above all the others. These others 
it regards as ignoramuses, calling them by many hard names 
which, after all, hurt nobody. At the same time this self-love 
which sneers at other tribes and other kinds of beasts, induces 
the individual to heap praise upon other individuals of his 
own species, because that is a very good way of praising 
-oneself too. From this it is easy to see that many talents here 
below are in reality but empty pretence, assumption, and pose, 

[ 58 ] 


THE LION, THE MONKEY, AND THE TWO ASSES 


and a certain gift of making the most of oneself, better under- 
stood by ignorant people than by learned. 

“The other day I followed two asses who were offering the 
incense of flattery to each other by turns, and heard one say, 
£ My lord, do you not think that man, that perfect animal, 
is both unjust and stupid? He profanes our august name by 
calling every one of his own kind an ass who is ignorant, or 
dull, or idiotic; and he calls our laughter and our discourse 
by the term “ braying.” It is very amusing that these human 
people pretend to excel us!’ 

“‘My friend,’ said his companion, ‘it is for you to speak, 
and for them to hold their tongues. They are the true brayers. 
But let us speak no more of them. We two understand each 
other; that is sufficient. And as for the marvels of delight your 
divine voice lets fall upon our ears, the nightingale herself is 
but a novice in comparison. You surpass the court musician. ’ 

“To this the other donkey replied, ‘My lord, I admire in 
you exactly the same excellencies.’ 

“Not content with flattering each other in this way, these 
two asses went about the cities singing aloud each other’s 
praises. Either one thought he was doing a good turn to him- 
self in thus lauding his companion. 

“Well, your majesty, I know of many people today, not 
among asses, but among exalted creatures, whom heaven has 
been pleased to raise to a high degree, who would, if they dared, 
change their title of ‘Excellency’ to that of ‘Majesty.’ I am 
saying more than I should, perhaps, and I hope your majesty 
will keep the secret. You wished to hear of some incident 
which would show you, among other things, how self-love 

[ 59 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 


makes people ridiculous, and there I have given you a good 
instance. Injustice I will speak of another time, it would take 
too long now.” 

Thus spoke the ape. No one has ever been able to tell me 
whether he ever did speak of injustice to his king. It would 
have been a delicate matter, and our master of arts, who was 
no fool, regarded the lion as too terrible a king to submit to 
being lectured too far. 


[ 60 ] 


THE WOLF AND THE FOX IN THE WELL 


W HY does iEsop give to the fox the reputation of 
excelling in all tricks of cunning? I have sought 
for a reason, but cannot find one. Does not the 
wolf, when he has need to defend his life or take that of 
another, display as much knowingness as the fox? I believe 
he knows more, and I dare, perhaps with some reason, to 
contradict my master in this particular. 

Nevertheless, here is a case where undoubtedly all the 
honor fell to the dweller in burrows. 

One evening a fox, who was as hungry as a dog, happened 
to see the round reflection of the moon in a well, and he 
believed it to be a fine cheese. There were two pails which 
alternately drew up the water. Into the uppermost of these 
the fox leapt, and his weight caused him to descend the well, 
where he at once discovered his mistake about the cheese. 
He became extremely worried and fancied his end approach- 
ing, for he could see no way to get up again but by some other 
hungry one, enticed by the same reflection, coming down in 
the same way that he had. 

Two days passed without any one coming to the well. 
Time, which is always marching onward, had, during two 
nights, hollowed the outline of the silvery planet, and Reynard 
was in despair. 

At last a wolf, parched with thirst, drew near, to whom 
the fox called from below, “ Comrade, here is a treat for you ! 

[ 61 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 


Do you see this? It is an exquisite cheese made by Faunus 
from milk of the heifer Io. If Jupiter were ill and lost his 
appetite he would find it again by one taste of this. I have 
only eaten this piece out of it; the rest will be plenty for you. 
Come down in the pail up there. I put it there on purpose 
for you.” 

A rigmarole so cleverly told was easily believed by the 
fool of a wolf, who descended by his greater weight, which 
not only took him down, but brought the fox up. 


[ 62 ] 


THE MICE AND THE SCREECH-OWL 


I T is not always wise to say to your company, “Just listen 
to this joke ” or “ What do you think of this for a marvel? ” 
for one can never be sure that the listeners will regard the 
matter in the same way that the teller does. Yet here is a 
case that makes an exception to this good rule, and I maintain 
that it is in truth wonderful, and, although it has the appear- 
ance of being a fable, it is in reality absolute fact. 

There was once an extremely old pine-tree which an owl, 
that grim bird which Atropus takes for her interpreter, had 
made to serve as his palace. But there were other tenants 
lodging in its cavernous and time-rotted trunk. These were 
mice, well fed, positive balls of fat, but not one of them had 
a foot. They had all been mutilated. The owl had nipped 
their feet off with his beak, whilst feeding and fostering them 
with wheat from neighboring stacks. 

It must be confessed that this bird had reasoned. 
Doubtless, in his time, when hunting mice, he had found 
that after bringing them home they escaped again from the 
trunk, and to prevent the recurrence of such a loss the artful 
rascal had thenceforth nipped off the feet of all he caught, 
keeping them prisoners and eating them one today and one 
tomorrow. To eat them all at once would have been impossible. 
He had his health to think of. His forethought, which went 
quite as far as ours, extended to bringing them grain for their 
subsistence 


[ 63 ] 


THE COMPANIONS OF ULYSSES 


T HAT great hero-wanderer Ulysses had been with his 
companions driven hither and thither at the will of 
the winds for ten years, never knowing what their 
ultimate fate was to be. At length they disembarked upon a 
shore where Circe, the daughter of Apollo, held her court. 
Receiving them she brewed a delicious but baneful liquor, 
which she made them drink. The result of this was that first 
they lost their reason, and a few moments after, their bodies 
took the forms and features of various animals; some unwieldy, 
some small. Ulysses alone, having the wisdom to withstand 
the temptation of the treacherous cup, escaped the metamor- 
phosis. He, besides possessing wisdom, bore the look of a 
hero and had the gift of honeyed speech, so that it came about 
that the goddess herself imbibed a poison little different from 
her own; that is to say, she became enamoured of the hero and 
declared her love to him. Now was the time for Ulysses to 
profit by this turn of events, and he was too cunning to miss 
the opportunity, so he begged and obtained the boon that his 
friends should be restored to their natural shapes. 

“But will they be willing to accept their own forms again? ” 
asked the nymph. “Go to them and make them the offer.” 

Ulysses, glad and eager, ran to his Greeks and cried, 
“The poisoned cup has its remedy, and I come to offer it to 
you. Dear friends of mine, will you not be glad to have your 
manly forms again? Speak, for your speech is already restored.” 
[ 64 ] 


THE COMPANIONS OF ULYSSES 


The Hon was the first to reply. Making an effort to roar 
he said, “I, for one, am not such a fool. What! renounce all 
the great advantages that have just been given me? I have 
teeth. I have claws. I can pull to pieces anything that attacks 
me. I am, in fact, a king. Do you think it would suit me to 
become a citizen of Ithaca once more? Who knows but that 
you might make of me a common soldier again. Thank you; 
but I will remain as I am.” 

Ulysses, in sad surprise, turned to the bear. “Ah, brother! 
what form is this you have taken, you who used to be so 
handsome?” 

“Well, really! I like that!” said the bear in his way. 
“What form is this? you ask. Why it is the form that a bear 
should have. Pray who instructed you that one form is more 
handsome than another? Is it your business to judge between 
us? I prefer to appeal to the sight of the gentler sex in our 
ursine race. Do I displease you? Then pass on. Go your ways 
and leave me to mine. I am free and content as I am, and I tell 
you frankly and flatly that I will not change my state.” 

The princely Greek then turned to a wolf with the same 
proposals, and risking a similar rebuff said: “Comrade, it 
overwhelms me that a sweet young shepherdess should be 
driven to complain to the echoing crags of the gluttonous 
appetite that impelled you to devour her sheep. Time was 
when you would have protected her sheepfold. In those days 
you led an honest life. Leave your lairs and become, instead 
of a wolf, an honest man again.” 

“What is that?” answered the wolf. “I don’t see your 
point. You come here treating me as though I were a carnivo- 

[ 65 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 


rous beast. But what are you, who are talking in this strain? 
Would not you and yours have eaten these sheep, which all 
the village is deploring, if I had not? Now say, on your oath, 
do you really think I should have loved slaughter any less if 
I had remained a man? For a mere word, you men are at 
times ready to strangle each other. Are you not, therefore, 
as wolves one to another? All things considered, I maintain 
as a matter of fact that, rascal for rascal, it is better to be a 
wolf than a man. I decline to make any change in my condi- 
tion. ” 

In this way did Ulysses go from one to another making the 
same representations and receiving from all, large and small 
alike, the same refusals. Liberty, unbridled lust of appetite, 
the ambushes of the woods, all these things were their supreme 
delight. They all renounced the glory attaching to great 
deeds. 

They thought that in following their passions they were 
enjoying freedom, not seeing that they were but slaves to 
themselves. 


[ 66 ] 


THE WOLF AND THE FOX 


A FOX once remarked to a wolf, “Dear friend, do you 
know that the utmost I can get for my meals is a 
tough old cock or perchance a lean hen or two. It 
is a diet of which I am thoroughly weary. You, on the other 
hand, feed much better than that, and with far less danger. 
My foraging takes me close up to houses; but you keep far 
away. I beg of you, comrade, to teach me your trade. Let 
me be the first of my race to furnish my pot with a plump 
sheep, and you will not find me ungrateful.” 

“Very well,” replied the obliging wolf. “I have a brother 
recently dead, suppose you go and get his skin and wear it. ” 
This the fox accordingly did and the wolf commenced to give 
him lessons. “You must do this and act so, when you wish 
to separate the dogs from the flocks.” At first Reynard was 
a little awkward, but he rapidly improved, and with a little 
practice he reached at last the perfection of wolfish strategy. 
Just as he had learned all that there was to know a flock 
approached. The sham wolf ran after it spreading terror all 
around, even as Patroclus wearing the armour of Achilles 
spread alarm throughout camp and city, when mothers, wives, 
and old men hastened to the temples for protection. In 
this case, the bleating army made sure there must be quite 
fifty wolves after them, and fled, dog and shepherd with them, 
to the neighboring village, leaving only one sheep as a hostage. 
This remaining sheep our thief instantly seized and was 
[ 67 ] 


FONTAINE’S FABLES 


making of! with it. But he had not gone more than a few 
steps when a cock crew near by. At this signal, which habit 
of life had led him to regard as a warning of dawn and danger, 
he dropped his disguising wolfskin and, forgetting his sheep, 
his lesson, and his master, scampered off with a will. 

Of what use is such shamming? It is an illusion to suppose 
that one is really changed by making the pretence. One 
resumes one’s first nature upon the earliest occasion for 
hiding it. 


[ 68 ] 


THE FOREST AND THE WOOD-CUTTER 
WOOD-CUTTER had broken or lost the handle of 



his hatchet and found it not easy to get it repaired 


at once. During the time, therefore, that it was out 
of use, the woods enjoyed a respite from further damage. 
At last the man came humbly and begged of the forest to 
allow him gently to take just one branch wherewith to make 
him a new haft, and promised that then he would go elsewhere 
to ply his trade and get his living. That would leave unthreat- 
ened many an oak and many a fir that now won universal 
respect on account of its age and beauty. 

The innocent forest acquiesced and furnished him with a 
new handle. This he fixed to his blade and, as soon as it was 
finished, fell at once upon the trees, despoiling his benefactress, 
the forest, of her most cherished ornaments. There was no 
end to her bewailings: her own gift had caused her grief. 

Here you see the way of the world and of those who follow 
it. They use the benefit against the benefactors. I weary of 
talking about it. Yet who would not complain that sweet 
and shady spots should suffer such outrage. Alas ! it is useless 
to cry out and be thought a nuisance: ingratitude and abuses 
will remain the fashion none the less. 


[ 69 ] 


THE FOX AND THE YOUNG TURKEYS 


S OME young turkeys were lucky enough to find a tree 
which served them as a citadel against the assaults of 
a certain fox. He, one night, having made the round 
of the rampart and seen each turkey watching like a sentinel, 
exclaimed, “What! These people laugh at me, do they? 
And do they think that they alone are exempt from the com- 
mon rule? No! by all the gods! no!” 

He accomplished his design. 

The moon shining brilliantly seemed to favor the turkey 
folk against the fox. But he was no novice in the laying of 
sieges, and had recourse to his bag of rascally tricks. He 
pretended to climb the tree; stood upon his hind legs; counter- 
feited death; then came to life again. Harlequin himself 
could not have acted so many parts. He reared his tail and 
made it gleam in the moonshine, and practised a hundred 
other pleasantries, during which no turkey could have dared 
to go to sleep. The enemy tired them out at last by keeping 
their eyes fixed upon him. The poor birds became dazed. 
One lost its balance and fell. Reynard put it by. Then 
another fell and was caught and laid on one side. Nearly 
half of them at length succumbed and were taken off to the 
fox’s larder. 

To concentrate too much attention upon a danger may 
cause us to tumble into it. 


[ 70 ] 


THE SCYTHIAN PHILOSOPHER 


A CERTAIN austere philosopher of Scythia, wishing 
to follow a pleasant life, travelled through the land 
of the Greeks, and there he found in a quiet spot a 
sage, one such as Virgil has written of; a man the equal of 
kings, the peer almost of the gods, and like them content and 
tranquil. The happiness of this sage lay entirely in his beautiful 
garden. There the Scythian found him, pruning hook in 
hand, cutting away the useless wood from his fruit trees; 
lopping here, pruning there, trimming this and that, and 
everywhere aiding Nature, who repaid his care with usury. 

“Why this wrecking?” asked the philosopher. “Is it 
wisdom thus to mutilate these poor dwellers in your garden? 
Drop that merciless tool, your pruning hook. Leave the 
work to the scythe of time. He will send them, soon enough, 
to the shores of the river of the departed. ” 

“I am taking away the superfluous,” answered the sage, 
“so that what is left may flourish the better.” 

The Scythian returned to his cheerless abode and, taking 
a bill-hook, cut and trimmed every hour in the day, advising 
his neighbors to do likewise and prescribing to his friends the 
means and methods. A universal cutting-down followed. 
The handsomest boughs were lopped; his orchard mutilated 
beyond all reason. The seasons were disregarded, and neither 
young moons nor old were noted. In the end everything 
languished and died. 


[ 71 ] 


THE ELEPHANT AND JUPITER’S APE 


O NCE in the olden times the elephant and the rhinoceros 
disputed as to which was the more important, and 
which should, therefore, have empire over the other 
animals. They decided to settle the point by battle in an 
enclosed field. 

The day was fixed, and all in readiness, when somebody 
came and informed them that Jupiter’s ape, bearing a cadu- 
ceus, had been seen in the air. The fact of his holding a 
caduceus proved him to be acting as official messenger from 
Olympus, and the elephant immediately took it for granted 
that the ape came as ambassador with greetings to his high- 
ness. Elated with this idea he waited for Gille, for that was 
the name of the ape, and thought him rather tardy in pre- 
senting his credentials. But at length Master Gille did 
salute his excellency as he passed, and the elephant prepared 
himself for the message. But not a word was forthcoming. 

It was evident that the gods were not giving so much 
attention to these matters as the elephant supposed. 

What does it matter to those in high places whether one 
is an elephant or a fly? 

The would-be monarch was reduced to the necessity of 
opening the conversation himself. “My cousin Jupiter,” he 
began, “will soon be able to watch a rather fine combat from 
his supreme throne, and his court will see some splendid 
sport. ” 


[ 72 ] 


THE ELEPHANT AND JUPITER’S APE 


“What combat?” asked the ape rather severely. 

“What! Do you not know that the rhinoceros denies me 
precedence: that the Elephantidae are at war with the Rhi- 
nocerotidae? You surely know these families: they have 
some reputation.” 

“I am charmed to learn their names,” replied Master 
Gille. “We are little concerned about such matters in our 
vast halls.” 

This shamed and surprised the elephant. “Eh! What, 
then, is the reason of your visit amongst us?” 

“Oh, it was to divide a blade of grass between two ants. 
We care for all. As for your affair, nothing has been said 
about it in the council of the gods. The little and the great 
are equal in their eyes.” 


[ 73 ] 


THE LEAGUE OF RATS 


T HERE was once a mouse who lived in terrible fear of 
a cat that had lain in wait watching for her. She was 
in great anxiety to know what she could do to escape 
the threatening danger. 

Being prudent and wise she consulted her neighbor, a 
large and important rat. His lordship the rat had taken up 
his abode in a very good inn, and had boasted a hundred 
times that he had no fear for either tom-cat or she-cat. 
Neither teeth nor claws caused him any anxious thought. 

“Dame Mouse,” said this boaster, “ whatever I do, 
I cannot, upon my word, chase away this cat that threatens 
you without some help. But let me call together all the rats 
hereabouts and I’ll play him a sorry trick or two.” 

The mouse curtsied humbly her thanks and the rat ran 
with speed to the head-quarters; that is to say to the larder, 
where the rats were in the habit of assembling. Arriving out 
of breath and perturbed in mind he found them making a 
great feast at the expense of their host. 

“What ails you?” asked one of the feasters. “Speak!” 
“In two words,” answered he, “the reason for my coming 
among you in this way is simply that it has become abso- 
lutely necessary to help the mice; for Grimalkin is abroad, 
making terrible slaughter among them. This, the most 
devilish of cats, will, when she has no mice left, turn her 
attention to the eating of rats.” 

[ 74 ] 


THE LEAGUE OF RATS 


“He says what is true,” cried they all. “To arms, to 
arms!” Nothing could stem the tide of their impetuosity; 
although, it is said, a few she-rats shed tears. It was no 
matter. Every one overhauled his equipment, and filled his 
wallet with cheese. To risk life was the determination of all. 
They set off, as if to a fete, with happy minds and joyful 
hearts. 

Alas, for the mouse! These warriors were a moment too 
late. The cat had her already by the head. Advancing at 
the double the rats ran to the succor of their good little friend; 
but the cat swore, and stalked away in front of the enemy, 
having no intention of surrendering her prey. 

At the sound of the cat’s defiance, the prudent rats, fearing 
ill fate, beat a safe retreat without carrying any farther their 
intended onslaught. Each one ran to his hole, and whenever 
any ventured out again it was always with the utmost caution 
to avoid the cat. 


[ 75 ] 




iESOP’S FABLES 


THE COCK AND THE PEARL 


A COCK was once strutting up and down the farm- 
yard among the hens when suddenly he saw some- 
thing shining amid the straw. “Ho! ho!” quoth he, 
“that’s for me,” and soon rooted it out from beneath the 
straw. What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some 
chance had been lost in the yard? “You may be a treasure,” 
quoth Master Cock, “to men that prize you, but for me I 
would rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls. ” 


[ 79 ] 


THE LION AND THE MOUSE 


A LION was awakened from sleep by a Mouse running 
over his face. Rising up in anger, he caught him and 
was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously 
entreated, saying: “If you would only spare my life, I would 
be sure to repay your kindness.” The Lion laughed and let 
him go. It happened shortly after this that the Lion was 
caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to 
the ground. The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came up, and 
gnawed the rope with his teeth, and setting him free, 
exclaimed: “You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to 
help you, not expecting to receive from me any repayment 
of your favor; but now you know that it is possible for even 
a Mouse to confer benefits on a Lion.” 


[ 80 ] 


THE WOLF AND THE LAMB 


A WOLF meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, 
resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to 
find some plea, which should justify to the Lamb 
himself his right to eat him. He thus addressed him : “ Sirrah, 
last year you grossly insulted me.” “Indeed,” bleated the 
Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, “I was not then born.” 
Then said the Wolf, “You feed in my pasture.” “No, good 
sir,” replied the Lamb, “I have not yet tasted grass.” Again 
said the Wolf, “You drink of my well.” “No,” exclaimed 
the Lamb, “I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother’s 
milk is both food and drink to me.” On which the Wolf 
seized him, and ate him up, saying, “Well! I won’t remain 
supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputa- 
tions. ” 

The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny. 


{ 81 ] 


THE BAT AND THE WEASELS 


A BAT falling upon the ground was caught by a Weasel, 
of whom he earnestly sought his life. The Weasel 
refused, saying that he was by nature the enemy of 
all birds. The Bat assured him that he was not a bird, but a 
mouse, and thus saved his life. Shortly afterwards the Bat 
again fell on the ground, and was caught by another Weasel, 
whom he likewise entreated not to eat him. The Weasel said 
that he had a special hostility to mice. The Bat assured him 
that he was not a mouse, but a bat; and thus a second time 
escaped. 

It is w T ise to turn circumstances to good account. 


[ 82 ] 


THE ASS AND THE GRASSHOPPER 


A N Ass, having heard some Grasshoppers chirping, 
was highly enchanted; and, desiring to possess the 
same charms of melody, demanded what sort of food 
they lived on, to give them such beautiful voices. They 
replied, “The dew.” The Ass resolved that he would only 
live upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger. 


[ 83 ] 


THE WOLF AND THE CRANE 


A WOLF, having a bone stuck in his throat, hired a 
Crane, for a large sum, to put her head into his 
throat and draw out the bone. When the Crane 
had extracted the bone, and demanded the promised pay- 
ment, the Wolf, grinning and grinding his teeth, exclaimed: 
“Why, you have surely already a sufficient recompense, in 
having been permitted to draw out your head in safety from 
the mouth and jaws of a wolf. ” 

In serving the wicked, expect no reward, and be thankful 
if you escape injury for your pains. 


[ 84 ] 


THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER 

T HE Ants were employing a fine winter’s day in drying 
grain collected in the summer time. A Grasshopper, 
perishing with famine, passed /by and earnestly 
begged for a little food. The Ants inquired of him, “Why 
did you not treasure up food during the summer?” He 
replied, “I had not leisure enough. I passed the days in 
singing.” They then said in derision: “If you were foolish 
enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supperless 
to bed in the winter.” 


[ 85 ] 


THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE 


A HARE one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace 
of the Tortoise. The latter, laughing, said: “ Though 
you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race. ” 
The Hare, deeming her assertion to be simply impossible, 
assented to the proposal; and they agreed that the Fox should 
choose the course, and fix the goal. On the day appointed 
for the race they started together. The Tortoise never for a 
moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace 
straight to the end of the course. The Hare, trusting to his 
native swiftness, cared little about the race, and lying down 
by the wayside, fell fast asleep. At last waking up, and mov- 
ing as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had reached the 
goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue. 


[ 86 ] 


THE DOG AND THE SHADOW 


A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece 
of flesh in his mouth, saw his own shadow in the 
water, and took it for that of another Dog, with a 
piece of meat double his own in size. He therefore let go his 
own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog, to get his larger 
piece from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped 
at in the water, because it was a shadow; and his own, because 
the stream swept it away. 


[ 87 ] 


THE FARMER AND THE SNAKE 


A FARMER found in the winter time a Snake stiff and 
frozen with cold. He had compassion on it, and 
taking it up placed it in his bosom. The Snake on 
being thawed by the warmth quickly revived, when, resum- 
ing its natural instincts, he bit his benefactor, inflicting on 
him a mortal wound. The Farmer said with his latest breath, 
“I am rightly served for pitying a scoundrel!” 

The greatest benefits will not bind the ungrateful. 


[ 88 ] 


THE FARMER AND THE STORK 


A FARMER placed nets on his newly-sown plough 
lands, and caught a quantity of Cranes, which came 
to pick up his seed. With them he trapped a Stork 
also. The Stork, having his leg fractured by the net, earnestly 
besought the Farmer to spare his life. “Pray, save me, 
Master,” he said, “and let me go free this once. My broken 
limb should excite your pity. Besides, I am no Crane, I am 
a Stork, a bird of excellent character; and see how I love and 
slave for my father and mother. Look too, at my feathers, 
they are not the least like to those of a Crane. ” The Farmer 
laughed aloud, and said, “It may be all as you say; I only 
know this, I have taken you with these robbers, the Cranes, 
and you must die in their company. ” 

Birds of a feather flock together. 


[ 89 ] 


THE ASS, THE FOX, AND THE LION 


T HE Ass and the Fox, having entered into partnership 
together for their mutual protection, went out into 
the forest to hunt. They had not proceeded far, 
when they met a Lion. The Fox, seeing the imminency of 
the danger, approached the Lion, and promised to contrive 
for him the capture of the Ass, if he would pledge his word 
that his own life should not be endangered. On his assuring 
him that he would not injure him, the Fox led the Ass to a 
deep pit, and contrived that he should fall into it. The Lion, 
seeing that the Ass was secured, immediately clutched the 
Fox, and then attacked the Ass at his leisure. 


[ 90 ] 


THE TORTOISE AND THE EAGLE 


A TORTOISE, lazily basking in the sun, complained 
to the sea-birds of her hard fate, that no one would 
teach her to fly. An Eagle hovering near, heard 
her lamentation, and demanded what reward she would give 
him, if he would take her aloft, and float her in the air. “I 
will give you,” she said, “all the riches of the Red Sea.” 
“I will teach you to fly then,” said the Eagle; and taking 
her up in his talons, he carried her almost to the clouds — 
when suddenly letting her go, she fell on a lofty mountain, 
and dashed her shell to pieces. The Tortoise exclaimed in 
the moment of death: “I have deserved my present fate; for 
what had I to do with wings and clouds, who can with diffi- 
culty move about on the earth?” 

If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined. 


THE FOX AND THE GOAT 

A FOX, having fallen into a deep well, was detained a 
prisoner there, as he could find no means of escape. 
A Goat, overcome with thirst, came to the same 
well, and, seeing the Fox, inquired if the water was good. 
The Fox, concealing his sad plight under a merry guise, 
indulged in a lavish praise of the water, saying it was beyond 
measure excellent, and encouraged him to descend. The 
Goat, mindful only of his thirst, thoughtlessly jumped down, 
when just as he quenched his thirst, the Fox informed him 
of the difficulty they were both in, and suggested a scheme 
for their common escape. “If,” said he, “you will place your 
fore-feet upon the wall and bend your head, I will run up 
your back and escape, and will help you out afterwards.” 
On the Goat readily assenting to this second proposal, the 
Fox leapt upon his back, and steadying himself with the 
Goat’s horns, reached in safety the mouth of the well, when 
he immediately made off as fast as he could. The Goat 
upbraided him with the breach of his bargain, when he 
turned round and cried out: “You foolish old fellow! If 
you had as many brains in your head as you have hairs in 
your beard, you would never have gone down before you had 
inspected the way up, nor have exposed yourself to dangers 
from which you had no means of escape.” 

Look before you leap. 


[ 92 ] 


THE SICK LION 


A LION, being unable from old age and infirmities to 
provide himself with food by force, resolved to do 
so by artifice. He betook himself to his den, and 
lying down there, pretended to be sick, taking care that his 
sickness should be publicly known. The beasts expressed 
their sorrow, and came one by one to his den to visit him, 
when the Lion devoured them. After many of the beasts 
had thus disappeared, the Fox discovered the trick, and pre- 
senting himself to the Lion, stood on the outside of the cave, 
at a respectful distance, and asked of him how he did; to 
whom he replied, “I am very middling, but why do you 
stand without? pray enter within to talk with me.” The 
Fox replied, “No, thank you, I notice that there are many 
prints of feet entering your cave, but I see no trace of any 
returning. ” 

He is wise who is warned by the misfortunes of others. 


[ 93 ] 


THE WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING 


O NCE upon a time a Wolf resolved to disguise his 
nature by his habit, so that he might get food with- 
out stint. Encased in the skin of a sheep, he pastured 
with the flock, beguiling the shepherd by his artifice. In the 
evening he was shut up by the shepherd in the fold; the gate 
was closed, and the entrance made thoroughly secure. The 
shepherd coming into the fold during the night to provide 
food for the morrow, caught up the Wolf, instead of a sheep, 
and killed him with his knife in the fold. 

Harm seek, harm find. 


[ 94 ] 


THE FROGS ASKING FOR A KING 


T HE Frogs, grieved at having no established Ruler, 
sent ambassadors to Jupiter entreating for a King. 
He, perceiving their simplicity, cast down a huge log 
into the lake. The Frogs, terrified at the splash occasioned 
by its fall, hid themselves in the depths of the pool. But 
no sooner did they see that the huge log remained motionless, 
than they swam again to the top of the water, dismissed their 
fears, and came so to despise it as to climb up, and to squat 
upon it. After some time they began to think themselves 
ill-treated in the appointment of so inert a Ruler, and sent a 
second deputation to Jupiter to pray that he would set over 
them another sovereign. He then gave them an Eel to govern 
them. When the Frogs discovered his easy good nature, they 
yet a third time sent to Jupiter to beg that he would once more 
choose for them another King. Jupiter, displeased at their 
complaints, sent a Heron, who preyed upon the Frogs day by 
day till there were none left to croak upon the Lake. 


[ 95 ] 


THE LABORER AND THE SNAKE 


A SNAKE, having made his hole close to the porch of 
a cottage, inflicted a severe bite on the Cottager’s 
infant son, of which he died, to the great grief of his 
parents. The father resolved to kill the Snake, and the next 
day, on its coming out of its hole for food, took up his axe; 
but, making too much haste to hit him as he wriggled away, 
missed his head, and cut off only the end of his tail. After 
some time the Cottager, afraid lest the Snake should bite 
him also, endeavored to make peace, and placed some bread 
and salt in his hole. The Snake, slightly hissing, said: “ There 
can henceforth be no peace between us; for whenever I see 
you I shall remember the loss of my tail, and whenever you 
see me you will be thinking of the death of your son.” 

No one truly forgets injuries in the presence of him who 
caused the injury. 


[ 96 ] 






THE ASS AND THE MULE 

A MULETEER set forth on a journey, driving before 
him an Ass and a Mule, both well laden. The Ass, 
as long as he travelled along the plain, carried his 
load with ease; but when he began to ascend the steep path 
of the mountain, he felt his load to be more than he could 
bear. He entreated his companion to relieve him of a small 
portion, that he might carry home the rest; but the Mule 
paid no attention to the request. The Ass shortly afterwards 
fell down dead under his burden. The Muleteer, not knowing 
what else to do in so wild a region, placed upon the Mule the 
load carried by the Ass in addition to his own, and at the top 
of all placed the hide of the Ass, after he had flayed him. 
The Mule, groaning beneath his heavy burden, said thus to 
himself: “I am treated according to my deserts. If I had 
only been willing to assist the Ass a little in his need, I should 
not now be bearing, together with his burden, himself as well.” 


[ 97 ] 


THE OXEN AND THE BUTCHERS 


T HE Oxen once on a time sought to destroy the Butchers, 
who practised a trade destructive to their race. They 
assembled on a certain day to carry out their purpose* 
and sharpened their horns for the contest. One of them, an 
exceedingly old one (for many a field had he ploughed), thus 
spoke: “ These Butchers, it is true, slaughter us, but they do 
so with skilful hands, and with no unnecessary pain. If we 
get rid of them, we shall fall into the hands of unskilful 
operators, and thus suffer a double death: for you may be 
assured, that though all the Butchers should perish, yet will 
men never want beef.” 

Do not be in a hurry to change one evil for another. 


[ 98 ] 


THE LION, THE MOUSE, AND THE FOX 


A LION, fatigued by the heat of a summer’s day, fell 
fast asleep in his den. A Mouse ran over his mane 
and ears, and woke him from his slumbers. He rose 
up and shook himself in great wrath, and searched every 
corner of his den to find the Mouse. A Fox seeing him said: 
“A fine Lion you are, to be frightened of a Mouse.” “Tis 
not the Mouse I fear,” said the Lion; “I resent his familiarity 
and ill-breeding.” 

Little liberties are great offences. 


[ 99 ] 


THE FOX WHO HAD LOST HIS TAIL 


A FOX, caught in a trap, escaped with the loss of his 
“brush.” Henceforth feeling his life a burden from 
the shame and ridicule to which he was exposed, he 
schemed to bring all the other Foxes into a like condition 
with himself, that in the common loss he might the better 
conceal his own deprivation. He assembled a good many 
Foxes, and publicly advised them to cut off their tails, say- 
ing “that they would not only look much better without 
them, but that they would get rid of the weight of the brush, 
which was a very great inconvenience.” One of them inter- 
rupting him said, “If you had not yourself lost your tail, my 
friend, you would not thus counsel us.” 


[ 100 ] 


THE VAIN JACKDAW 

J UPITER determined, it is said, to create a sovereign 
over the birds; and made proclamation that, on a 
certain day, they should all present themselves before 
him, when he would himself choose the most beautiful among 
them to be king. The Jackdaw, knowing his own ugliness, 
searched through the woods and fields, and collected the 
feathers which had fallen from the wings of his companions, 
and stuck them in all parts of his body, hoping thereby to 
make himself the most beautiful of all. When the appointed 
day arrived, and the birds had assembled before Jupiter, the 
Jackdaw also made his appearance in his many-feathered 
finery. On Jupiter proposing to make him king, on account of 
the beauty of his plumage, the birds indignantly protested, 
and each plucking from him his own feathers, the Jackdaw 
was again nothing but a Jackdaw. 


[ 101 ] 


THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP 


W HY should there always be this internecine and 
implacable warfare between us?” said the Wolves 
to the Sheep. “ Those evil-disposed Dogs have 
much to answer for. They always bark whenever we approach 
you, and attack us before we have done any harm. If you 
would only dismiss them from your heels, there might soon 
be treaties of peace and of reconciliation between us.” The 
Sheep, poor silly creatures! were easily beguiled, and dis- 
missed the Dogs. The Wolves destroyed the unguarded flock 
at their own pleasure. 


[ 102 ] 


THE OX AND THE FROG 


A N Ox, drinking at a pool, trod on a brood of young 
frogs, and crushed one of them to death. The mother 
coming up, and missing one of her sons, inquired of 
his brothers what had become of him. “He is dead, dear 
mother; for just now a very huge beast with four great feet 
came to the pool, and crushed him to death with his cloven 
heel.” The Frog, puffing herself out, inquired, “if the beast 
was as big as that in size.” “Cease, mother, to puff yourself 
out,” said her son, “and do not be angry; for you would, 
I assure you, sooner burst than successfully imitate the huge- 
ness of that monster.” 


[ 103 ] 


THE FIGHTING COCKS AND THE EAGLE 


T WO Game Cocks were fiercely fighting for the mastery 
of the farm-yard. One at last put the other to flight. 
The vanquished Cock skulked away and hid himself 
in a quiet corner. The conqueror, flying up to a high wall, 
flapped his wings and crowed exultingly with all his might. 
An Eagle sailing through the air pounced upon him, and 
carried him off in his talons. The vanquished Cock imme- 
diately came out of his corner, and ruled henceforth with 
undisputed mastery. 

Pride goes before destruction. 


[ 104 ] 


THE FOX AND THE MONKEY 


A MONKEY once danced in an assembly of the Beasts, 
and so pleased them all by his performance that they 
elected him their King. A Fox, envying him the honor, 
discovered a piece of meat lying in a trap, and leading the 
Monkey to the place where, it was said, “that she had found a 
store, but had not used it, but had kept it for him as treasure 
trove of his kingdom, and counselled him to lay hold of it.” 
The Monkey approached carelessly, and was caught in the 
trap; and on his accusing the Fox of purposely leading him 
into the snare, she replied, “O Monkey, and are you, with 
such a mind as yours, going to be King over the Beasts?” 


[ 105 ] 


THE HAWK, THE KITE, AND THE PIGEONS 


T HE Pigeons, terrified by the appearance of a Kite, 
called upon the Hawk to defend them. He at once 
consented. When they had admitted him into the 
cote, they found that he made more havoc and slew a larger 
number of them in one day, than the Kite could pounce 
upon in a whole year. 

Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease. 


[ 106 ] 


THE MOUSE, THE FROG AND THE HAWK 


A MO USE who always lived on the land, by an unlucky 
chance formed an intimate acquaintance with a 
Frog, who lived for the most part in the water. The 
Frog, one day intent on mischief, bound the foot of the Mouse 
tightly to his own. Thus joined together, the Frog first of all 
led his friend the Mouse to the meadow where they were 
accustomed to find their food. After this, he gradually led 
him towards the pool in which he lived, until he reached the 
very brink, when suddenly jumping in he dragged the Mouse 
in with him. The Frog enjoyed the water amazingly, and 
swam croaking about, as if he had done a meritorious action. 
The unhappy Mouse was soon suffocated with the water, and 
his dead body floated about on the surface, tied to the foot of 
the Frog. A Hawk observed it, and, pouncing upon it with 
his talons, carried it up aloft. The Frog being still fastened 
to the leg of the Mouse, was also carried off a prisoner, and 
was eaten by the Hawk. 

Harm hatch, harm catch. 


[ 107 ] 


THE WOLF AND THE SHEEP 


A WOLF, sorely wounded and bitten by dogs, lay sick 
and maimed in his lair. Being in want of food, he 
called to a Sheep, who was passing, and asked him 
to fetch some water from a stream flowing close beside him. 
“For,” he said, “if you will bring me drink, I will find means 
to provide myself with meat.” “Yes,” said the Sheep, “if 
I should bring you the draught, you would doubtless make 
me provide the meat also.” 

Hypocritical speeches are easily seen through. 


[ 108 ] 


















































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THE FOX AND THE CROW 


A CROW having stolen a bit of flesh, perched in a tree, 
and held it in her beak. A Fox seeing her, longed to 
possess himself of the flesh: and by a wily stratagem 
succeeded. “How handsome is the Crow,” he exclaimed, “in 
the beauty of her shape and in the fairness of her complexion! 
Oh, if her voice were only equal to her beauty, she would 
deservedly be considered the Queen of Birds!” This he said 
deceitfully; but the Crow, anxious to refute the reflection cast 
upon her voice, set up a loud caw, and dropped the flesh. 
The Fox quickly picked it up, and thus addressed the Crow: 
“My good Crow, your voice is right enough, but your wit is 
wanting. ” 


[ 109 ] 


THE WILD ASS AND THE LION 


A WILD Ass and a Lion entered into an alliance that 
they might capture the beasts of the forest with the 
greater ease. The Lion agreed to assist the Wild Ass 
with his strength, while the Wild Ass gave the Lion the benefit 
of his greater speed. When they had taken as many beasts 
as their necessities required, the Lion undertook to distribute 
the prey, and for this purpose divided it into three shares. 
“I will take the first share,” he said, “because I am King: 
and the second share, as a partner with you in the chase: and 
the third share (believe me) will be a source of great evil to 
you, unless you willingly resign it to me, and set off as fast as 
you can.” 

Might makes right. 


[ 110 ] 


THE STAG IN THE OX-STALL 


A STAG, hardly pressed by the hounds, and blind 
through fear to the danger he was running into, took 
shelter in a farm-yard, and hid himself in a shed 
among the oxen. An Ox gave him this kindly warning: “O 
unhappy creature! why should you thus, of your own accord, 
incur destruction, and trust yourself in the house of your 
enemy ?” The Stag replied: “Do you only suffer me, friend, 
to stay where I am, and I will undertake to find some favor- 
able opportunity of effecting my escape.” At the approach 
of the evening the herdsman came to feed his cattle, but did 
not see the Stag; and even the farm-bailiff, with several 
laborers, passed through the shed, and failed to notice him. 
The Stag, congratulating himself on his safety, began to express 
his sincere thanks to the Oxen who. had kindly afforded him 
help in the hour of need. One of them again answered him: 
“We indeed wish you well, but the danger is not over. There 
is one other yet to pass through the shed, who has as it were a 
hundred eyes, and, until he has come and gone, your life is 
still in peril.” At that moment the master himself entered? 
and having had to complain that his oxen had not been 
properly fed, he went up to their racks, and cried out: “Why 
is there such a scarcity of fodder? There is not half enough 
straw for them to lie on. Those lazy fellows have not even 
swept the cobwebs away.” While he thus examined every- 
thing in turn, he spied the tips of the antlers of the Stag 
peeping out of the straw. Then summoning his laborers, he 
ordered that the Stag should be seized, and killed. 

[Ill] 


THE LION AND THE BOAR 


O N a summer day, when the great heat induced a general 
thirst, a Lion and a Boar came at the same moment 
to a small well to drink. They fiercely disputed which 
of them should drink first, and were soon engaged in the agonies 
of a mortal combat. On their stopping on a sudden to take 
breath for the fiercer renewal of the strife, they saw some 
Vultures waiting in the distance to feast on the one which 
should fall first. They at once made up their quarrel, saying, 
“It is better for us to make friends, than to become the food 
of Crows or Vultures.” 


[ 112 ] 


THE ONE-EYED DOE 


A DOE, blind of an eye, was accustomed to graze as 
near to the edge of the cliff as she possibly could, in 
the hope of securing her greater safety. She turned 
her sound eye towards the land, that she might get the earliest 
tidings of the approach of hunter or hound, and her injured 
eye towards the sea, from whence she entertained no antici- 
pation of danger. Some boatmen sailing by, saw her, and 
taking a successful aim, mortally wounded her. Yielding up 
her breath, she gasped forth this lament: “O wretched creature 
that I am ! to take such precaution against the land, and after 
all to find this sea-shore, to which I had come for safety, so 
much more perilous. ” 


[ 113 ] 


THE ASS, THE COCK, AND THE LION 


A N Ass and a Cock were in a straw-yard together, when 
a Lion, desperate from hunger, approached the spot. 
He was about to spring upon the Ass, when the Cock 
(to the sound of whose voice the Lion, it is said, has a singular 
aversion) crowed loudly, and the Lion fled away as fast as 
he could. The Ass observing his trepidation at the mere 
crowing of a Cock, summoned courage to attack him and 
galloped after him for that purpose. He had run no long dis- 
tance, when the Lion turning about, seized him and tore 
him to pieces. 

False confidence often leads into danger. 


[ 114 ] 











* 



































THE OLD LION 


A LION, worn out with years, and powerless from 
disease, lay on the ground at the point of death. A 
Boar rushed upon him, and avenged with a stroke 
of his tusks a long-remembered injury. Shortly afterwards 
the Bull with his horns gored him as if he were an enemy. 
When the Ass saw that the huge beast could be assailed with 
impunity, he let drive at his forehead with his heels. The 
expiring Lion said, “I have reluctantly brooked the insults 
of the brave, but to be compelled to endure contumely from 
thee, a disgrace to Nature, is indeed to die a double death.” 


[ 115 ] 


THE ASS AND HIS SHADOW 


A TRAVELLER hired an Ass to convey him to a dis- 
tant place. The day being intensely hot, and the sun 
shining in its strength, the traveller stopped to rest, 
and sought shelter from the heat under the Shadow of the 
Ass. As this afforded only protection for one, and as the 
traveller and the owner of the Ass both claimed it, a violent 
dispute arose between them as to which of them had the right 
to it. The owner maintained that he had let the Ass only, 
and not his Shadow. The traveller asserted that he had, with 
the hire of the Ass, hired his Shadow also. The quarrel pro- 
ceeded from words to blows, and while the men fought the 
Ass galloped off. 

In quarrelling about the shadow we often lose the sub- 
stance. 


[ 116 ] 


THE LION IN A FARM-YARD 


A LION entered a farm-yard. The farmer, wishing to 
catch him, shut the gate. The Lion, when he found 
that he could not escape, flew upon the sheep, and 
killed them, and then attacked the oxen. The farmer, begin- 
ning to be alarmed for his own safety, opened the gate, when 
the Lion got off as fast as he could. On his departure the 
farmer grievously lamented the destruction of his sheep and 
oxen; when his wife, who had been a spectator of all that took 
place, said, “On my word, you are rightly served; for how 
could you for a moment think of shutting up a Lion along with 
you in the farm-yard, when you know that you shake in your 
shoes if you only hear his roar at ever so great a distance?” 


[ 117 ] 


THE BIRDCATCHER, THE PARTRIDGE AND 
THE COCK 


A BIRDCATCHER was about to sit down to a dinner 
of herbs, when a friend unexpectedly came in. The 
bird-trap was quite empty, as he had caught nothing. 
He proceeded to kill a pied Partridge, which he had tamed for 
a decoy. He entreated thus earnestly for his life: “What 
would you do without me when next you spread your nets? 
Who would chirp you to sleep, or call for you the covey of 
answering birds?” The Birdcatcher spared his life, and 
determined to pick out a fine young Cock just attaining to 
his comb. He thus expostulated in piteous tones from his 
perch: “If you kill me, who will announce to you the appear- 
ance of the dawn? Who will wake you to your daily tasks? 
Or tell you when it is time to visit the bird-trap in the morn- 
ing?” He replied, “What you say is true. You are a capital 
bird at telling the time of day. But I and the friend who has 
come in must have our dinners. ” 

Necessity knows no law. 


[ 118 ] 



oO* 




































J 







































































* 







































THE WOLF AND THE LION 


A WOLF, having stolen a lamb from a fold, was carrying 
him off to his lair. A Lion met him in the path, and, 
seizing the lamb, took it from him. The Wolf, stand- 
ing at a safe distance, exclaimed, “You have unrighteously 
taken that which was mine from me.” The Lion jeeringly 
replied, “It was righteously yours, eh? the gift of a friend?” 


[ 119 ] 


THE ANT AND THE DOVE 


A N Ant went to the bank of a river to quench its thirst, 
and, being carried away by the rush of the stream, 
was on the point of being drowned. A Dove, sitting 
on a tree overhanging the water, plucked a leaf, and let it 
fall into the stream close to her. The Ant, climbing on to it, 
floated in safety to the bank. Shortly afterwards a birdcatcher 
came and stood under the tree, and laid his lime-twigs for the 
Dove, which sat in the branches. The Ant, perceiving his 
design, stung him in the foot. He suddenly threw down the 
twigs, and thereupon made the Dove take wing. 

The grateful heart will always find opportunities to show 
its gratitude. 


[ 120 ] 


















' 





































THE MONKEY AND THE FISHERMEN 


A MONKEY perched upon a lofty tree saw some Fisher- 
men easting their nets into a river, and narrowly 
watched their proceedings. The Fishermen after a 
while gave over fishing, and, on going home to dinner, left 
their nets upon the bank. The Monkey, who is the most 
imitative of animals, descended from the tree-top, and endeav- 
ored to do as they had done. Having handled the net, he 
threw it into the river, but became entangled in the meshes. 
When drowning, he said to himself, “I am rightly served; for 
what business had I who had never handled a net to try and 
catch fish?” 


[m] 


THE HARES AND THE FROGS 

T HE Hares, oppressed with a sense of their own exceed- 
ing timidity, and weary of the perpetual alarm to 
which they were exposed, with one accord determined 
to put an end to themselves and their troubles, by jumping 
from a lofty precipice into a deep lake below. As they scam- 
pered off in a very numerous body to carry out their resolve, 
the Frogs lying on the banks of the lake heard the noise of 
their feet, and rushed helter-skelter to the deep water for 
safety. On seeing the rapid disappearance of the Frogs, one 
of the Hares cried out to this companions: “Stay, my friends, 
do not do as you intended; for you now see that other creatures 
who yet live are more timorous than ourselves.” 


[ 122 ] 


THE SWAN AND THE GOOSE 


A CERTAIN rich man bought in the market a Goose 
and a Swan. He fed the one for his table, and kept 
the other for the sake of its song. When the time 
came for killing the Goose, the cook went to take him at night, 
when it was dark, and he was not able to distinguish one bird 
from the other, and he caught the Swan instead of the Goose, 
The Swan, threatened with death, burst forth into song, and 
thus made himself known by his voice, and preserved his life 
by his melody. 

A word in season is most precious. 


t ns] 


THE MILLER, HIS SON, AND THEIR ASS 
MILLER and his son were driving their Ass to a 



neighboring fair to sell him. They had not gone far 


when they met with a troop of women collected 


round a well, talking and laughing. “Look there,” cried one 
of them, “did you ever see such fellows, to be trudging along 
the road on foot when they might ride? ” The old man hearing 
this, quickly made his son mount the Ass, and continued to 
walk along merrily by his side. Presently they came up to a 
group of old men in earnest debate. “There,” said one of 
them, “it proves what I was a-saying. What respect is shown 
to old age in these days? Do you see that idle lad riding while 
his old father has to walk? Get down, you young scapegrace, 
and let the old man rest his weary limbs. ” Upon this the old 
man made his son dismount, and got up himself. In this 
manner they had not proceeded far when they met a company 
of women and children: “Why, you lazy old fellow,” cried 
several tongues at once, “how can you ride upon the beast, 
while that poor little lad there can hardly keep pace by the 
side of you?” The good-natured Miller immediately took up 
his son behind him. They had now almost reached the town. 

“Pray, honest friend,” said a citizen, “is that Ass your 
own?” “Yes,” said the old man. “Oh, one would not have 
thought so,” said the other, “by the way you load him. Why, 
you two fellows are better able to carry the poor beast than 
he you.” “Anything to please you,” said the old man; “we 


[ 124 ] 


THE MILLER, HIS SON, AND THEIR ASS 


can but try.” So, alighting with his son, they tied the legs 
of the Ass together, and by the help of a pole endeavored to 
carry him on their shoulders over a bridge near the entrance 
of the town. This entertaining sight brought the people in 
crowds to laugh at it; till the Ass, not liking the noise, nor 
the strange handling that he was subject to, broke the cords 
that bound him, and, tumbling off the pole, fell into the river. 
Upon this, the old man, vexed and ashamed, made the best 
of his way home again, convinced that by endeavoring to 
please everybody he had pleased nobody, and lost his Ass into 
the bargain. 


[ 125 ] 


THE TWO FROGS 


T WO Frogs dwelt in the same pool. The pool being 
dried up under the summer’s heat, they left it, and set 
out together for another home. As they went along 
they chanced to pass a deep well, amply supplied with water, 
on seeing which one of the Frogs saidjto the other, “Let us 
descend and make our abode in this well: it will furnish us 
with shelter and food.” The other replied with greater 
caution, “But suppose the water should fail us, how can we 
get out again from so great a depth?” 

Do nothing without a regard to the consequences. 


[ 126 ] 


THE LION, THE BEAR, AND THE FOX 


A LION and a Bear seized upon a Kid at the same 
moment, and fought fiercely for its possession. 
When they had fearfully lacerated each other, and 
were faint from the long combat, they lay down exhausted 
with fatigue. A Fox, who had gone round them at a distance 
several times, saw them both stretched on the ground, and 
the Kid lying untouched in the middle, ran in between them, 
and seizing the Kid scampered off as fast as he could. The 
Lion and the Bear saw him, but not being able to get up, 
said, “Woe betide us, that we should have fought and 
belabored ourselves only to serve the turn of a Fox!” 

It sometimes happens that one man has all the toil, and 
another all the profit. 


[ 127 ] 


THE LION AND THE HARE 


A LION came across a Hare, who was fast asleep on her 
form. He was just in the act of seizing her, when a 
fine young Hart trotted by, and he left the Hare to 
follow him. The Hare, scared by the noise, awoke, and 
scudded away. The Lion was not able after a long chase to 
catch the Hart, and returned to feed upon the Hare. On 
finding that the Hare also had run off, he said, “I am rightly 
served, for having let go the food that I had in my hand for 
the chance of obtaining more.” 


[ 128 ] 


THE LION, THE FOX, AND THE ASS 


T HE Lion, the Fox, and the Ass entered into an agree- 
ment to assist each other in the chase. Having se- 
cured a large booty, the Lion, on their return from the 
forest, asked the Ass to allot his due portion to each of the 
three partners in the treaty. The Ass carefully divided the 
spoil into three equal shares, and modestly requested the two 
others to make the first choice. The Lion, bursting out into 
a great rage, devoured the Ass. Then he requested the Fox to 
do him the favor to make a division. The Fox accumulated 
all that they had killed into one large heap, and left to himself 
the smallest possible morsel. The Lion said, “Who has 
taught you, my very excellent fellow, the art of division? 
You are perfect to a fraction.” He replied, “I karat it from 
the Ass, by witnessing his fate.” 

Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of 
others. 


[ 129 ] 


THE HARE AND THE HOUND 


A HOUND having started a Hare from his form, after 
a long run, gave up the chase. A Goat-herd seeing 
him stop, mocked him, saying, “The little one is the 
best runner of the two.” The Hound replied, “You do not 
see the difference between us: I was only running for a dinner, 
but he, for his life.” 


[ISO] 


THE PEACOCK AND THE CRANE 


A PEACOCK spreading its gorgeous tail mocked a 
Crane that passed by, ridiculing the ashen hue of its 
plumage, and saying, “I am robed, like a king, in 
gold and purple, and all the colors of the rainbow; while you 
have not a bit of color on your wings.” “True,” replied the 
Crane; “but I soar to the heights of heaven, and lift up my 
voice to the stars, while you walk below, like a cock, among 
the birds of the dunghill.” 

Fine feathers don’t make fine birds. 


[ 131 ] 


THE ASS AND THE FROGS 


A N Ass, carrying a load of wood, passed through a pond. 

As he was crossing through the water he lost his 
footing, and stumbled and fell, and not being able 
to rise on account of his load, he groaned heavily. Some 
Frogs frequenting the pool heard his lamentation, and said, 
“What would you do if you had to live here always as we do. 
when you make such a fuss about a mere fall into the water?” 

Men often bear little grievances with less courage than 
they do large misfortunes. 


[ 132 ] 


THE CROW AND RAVEN 


A CROW was very jealous of the Raven, because he 
was considered a bird of good omen, and always 
attracted the attention of men, as indicating by his 
flight the good or evil course of future events. Seeing some 
travellers approaching, she flew up into a tree, and perching 
herself on one of the branches, cawed as loudly as she could. 
The travellers turned towards the sound, and wondered what 
it boded, when one of them said to his companion, “Let us 
proceed on our journey, my friend, for it is only the caw of a 
crow, and her cry, you know, is no omen.” 

Those who assume a character which does not belong to 
them, only make themselves ridiculous. 


THE END 


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